Illegal immigration at the southern border virtually disappeared in February, according to the latest government data Wednesday that showed improvements across the board.
Illegal immigrants nabbed by the Border Patrol along the U.S.-Mexico boundary are the lowest recorded in decades. Agents recorded fewer than 800 unaccompanied alien children for just the second time ever, and for the first non-pandemic month.
Migrants traveling as families dropped from more than 7,000 to about 800.
And for the first time since Mr. Trump’s last go-around in office, agents didn’t detect a single terrorism suspect crossing the southern border.
“The men and women of U.S. Customs and Border Protection continue to aggressively implement the president’s executive orders to secure our borders, and as a result of this leadership, we have achieved historic lows in border apprehensions,” said Pete Flores, CBP’s acting commissioner.
The marquee number, illegal immigrants caught by Border Patrol agents manning the Mexican boundary, dropped to 8,347, a 71% drop compared to January and a 94% drop from February 2024 under President Biden.
Even more stunning was the drop in unauthorized migrants showing up at the border crossings hoping to be let in.
They fell from 32,000 in January to about 3,400 in February.
That was the result of Mr. Trump canceling Biden-era “parole” programs that had welcomed unauthorized migrants as long as they prescheduled their arrivals.
Republicans say the numbers are proof that the broken border wasn’t a result of broken U.S. laws or foreign forces pushing migrants out of their homes, but rather lenient Biden policies drawing them here.
“This victory at our borders makes the past four years even more of a tragedy,” Rep. Mark Green, Tennessee Republican and chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said after the numbers were released Wednesday.
He said Laken Riley and Kayla Hamilton, killed by illegal immigrants who were caught and released during the Biden administration, “paid the price with their lives.”
