Overview

• The White House reported 237,565 detentions at the southern border in fiscal year 2025, the lowest annual total since 1970 when DHS recorded 201,780.
• Apprehensions fell 87% from 2024, with 172,026 arrests—about 72% of the FY2025 total—occurring in the final 3½ months of the previous administration.
• September’s average daily detentions in the southwest were 279, compared with 5,110 per day from February 2021 through December 2024.
• Nationwide encounters in August were down 89% year over year, as officials pointed to asylum restrictions and stricter enforcement carried over into the current administration.
• The numbers are preliminary pending DHS’s definitive fiscal-year report, as political messaging escalates with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem citing violent threats against officers and President Trump claiming without evidence that no one is crossing.