The Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection ended Fiscal Year 2025 with the lowest number of Border Patrol apprehensions since 1970 — a clear indication the Trump administration has been successful in putting an end to Biden-era open border policies.
In a news release announcing preliminary enforcement numbers, CBP touted that September marked the fifth consecutive month where there were zero releases by Border Patrol along the U.S.-Mexico border, compared to 9,144 releases the year prior.
Other notable achievements on border security include:
- Southwest Border Apprehensions: 237,565 — the lowest fiscal year total in 55 years, compared to 201,780 in Fiscal Year 1970, and 87 percent below the average of the last four fiscal years which was 1.86 million.
- Most encounters happened under the previous administration: 172,026 apprehensions — 72 percent of the total — occurred during the under the Biden Administration during the first 111 days of the fiscal year. Over the next 254 days, this administration recorded 65,539 apprehensions, accounting for just 27 percent of the year’s total.
- Nationwide Encounters: 26,000 — down from 26,191 in August 2025 and 89 percent lower than the monthly average under the last administration.
- Southwest Border Daily Average Apprehensions: 279 per day in September — fewer in an entire day now than in just two hours under the last administration, and 95 percent lower than the last administration’s daily average of 5,110 from February 2021 through December 2024.
“Fiscal Year 2025 shows what happens when we enforce the law without compromise,” said CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott in a statement. “For too long, agents and officers were handcuffed by failed policies. Today they are empowered to do their jobs – and the result is the lowest apprehensions in more than five decades, and the most secure border in modern history.”
We have the MOST SECURE border in American history and our end of year numbers prove it.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) October 7, 2025
September marks the fifth consecutive month with ZERO releases by the Border Patrol along the southwest border, compared to 9,144 releases in September 2024.
In FY 2025 Border Patrol made…
“We have had the most secure border in American history and our end of year numbers prove it," noted said Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem. "We have shattered multiple records this year and once again we have broken a new record with the lowest number of Southwest border apprehensions in 55 years. Under President Trump, we have empowered and supported our law enforcement to do their job and they have delivered.”
