Illegal border entries still at record lows, up from April 2025

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

Illegal entries into the U.S. in April remained significantly lower than during the Biden administration but are slightly up from what they were in April 2024 and over the last few months, according to newly released U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

Illegal border crosser apprehensions and encounters nationwide totaled 31,311 in April, excluding gotaways. Gotaways is the official CBP term for foreign nationals who illegally enter between ports of entry and evade capture. CBP does not publicly report this data. The Center Square exclusively reported it at the height of the border crisis after receiving it from Border Patrol agents.

April’s total was significantly less than the high of 276,036 reported in April 2023. It was slightly higher than last April’s total of 29,197.

It’s also higher than totals from last February and March and this February, according to the data.

At the southwest border, 12,836 apprehensions were reported, including at ports of entry by CBP agents and between ports of entry by Border Patrol agents.

The southwest border total is higher than what was reported last April and every month since December. It’s a significant drop from the record 211,992 reported in April 2023.

Illegal crossings at the northern border are declining; 3,803 were reported in April. This is down from last April and the record high of 16,484 reported in April 2024.

Apprehensions and encounters at the northern border have hovered close to 4,000-5,000 a month since January 2025, when they dropped drastically. Under the Biden administration, the greatest number of illegal border crossers were reported in U.S. history at the northern border, The Center Square reported. The peak reached nearly 200,000 in 2024, excluding gotaways, according to the data.

At the southwest border, daily Border Patrol apprehensions between ports of entry in April totaled 8,943 – less than the number apprehended in three days in April 2024.

Illegal border crossings between ports of entry in the first six months of fiscal 2026 were lower than the monthly average over the last 30 years, according to CBP data. The fiscal year began Oct. 1.

Border Patrol apprehensions across the southwest border in the first six months of fiscal 2026 were 37% less than just one month on average from fiscal years 1992 through 2024.

Border Patrol’s average daily apprehensions across the southwest border in four states in April totaled 298, 94% lower than the daily average during the Biden administration.

They also totaled less than those apprehended in a single hour during the height of the border crisis during the Biden administration, averaging 336 an hour in December 2023.

Trump administration officials’ continued claim that zero illegal foreign nationals are being released into the country contradicts CBP data.

“Twelve straight months of ZERO releases at the border,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said. That’s down from Border Patrol releasing more than 68,000 in April 2024, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said.

“With daily apprehensions down 95% from the previous administration and 15 consecutive months of fewer than 9,000 southwest border apprehensions, the border remains more secure than at any point in history,” CBP said.

According to CBP data, CBP officers at ports of entry are releasing illegal foreign nationals into the country. In the first four months of the Trump’s administration, more than 13,000 inadmissible noncitizens were released after arriving at POEs, according to CBP data, The Center Square reported.

Border Patrol agents are also releasing unaccompanied alien children (UACs) to sponsors after illegal entry. In fiscal 2025, 24,500 UACs were released; in the first six months of fiscal 2026, 825 have been, according to federal data.

These totals are also record drops from the highest numbers on record during the Biden administration. The peak year was 2022 when nearly 127,000 UACs were released into the country.