Illegal crossings along the United States-Mexico border have dropped to their lowest annual level since the early 1970s, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security shared with CBS News.

The numbers show a massive reversal from the record-breaking migrant surges that overwhelmed federal agencies under the Biden administration.

Border Patrol agents recorded about 238,000 apprehensions of people trying to enter the United States illegally during federal fiscal year 2025, which ended on September 30, 2025. That total is the lowest since 1970, when the agency reported about 202,000 arrests.

The massive decline marks one of the biggest one-year drops in illegal immigration in modern U.S. history. Supporters credit President Donald's Trump’s aggressive enforcement policies for restoring order at the southern border, while critics argue the approach sacrifices compassion for control.

The huge decline follows a crackdown by the Trump administration, which took office in January for a second term and quickly moved to tighten border controls, restrict asylum, and increase deportations. While running for president in 2024 and after winning the election, Trump vowed to deport every illegal immigrant living in the United States.

"I think you have to do it," Trump told NBC News in December 2024 of deporting every illegal immigrant in the United States. "It’s a very tough thing to do. You know, you have rules, regulations, laws."

Under Trump’s new policies, Border Patrol agents have averaged fewer than 9,000 apprehensions per month at the southern border. During parts of 2022, that many arrests often happened in a single day.

The Trump administration says the data proves its approach works.

"President Trump has overwhelmingly delivered on his promise to secure our Southern Border," White House spokesman Abigail Jackson said in a written statement. "As a result, Americans are safer — unvetted criminal illegal aliens and dangerous drugs are no longer pouring over our border unchecked. And for all the Democrats who claimed it was impossible to secure the border or that they needed new policy, turns out all we needed was a new President."

Illegal crossings began falling in the summer of 2024 after the Biden administration enacted tighter asylum limits. However, the numbers dropped much faster under Trump, who reimposed many of his first-term measures and expanded their scope.

Shortly upon taking office, Trump invoked emergency powers to close down most asylum processing, deploy thousands of soldiers to the border, and end Biden-era programs that allowed certain migrants to enter the country legally. His administration also resumed large-scale deportations and made it harder for migrants caught crossing illegally to be released while awaiting court proceedings; the latter practice is known as catch and release.

John Martin, who runs a network of shelters in El Paso, Texas, told CBS News that his organization once housed hundreds of migrants during peak surges under Biden but is now seeing almost none. He said the situation on the ground has changed completely.

“If the goal is to decrease the number of individuals, I would say that appears to have been successful,” Martin said. “We’re just simply not seeing the people.”