Illegal border crossings remain historically low in June, drug seizures up

By Bethany Blankley
The Center Square

Children still being released into the country

Illegal border crossings remained historically low in June, continuing a trend under the Trump administration.

Last month, 31,626 illegal border crossers were apprehended nationwide, according to the latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. The number is up by 6,500 from last June and down by more than 173,000 from June 2024, according to the data.

The total excludes gotaways – those who illegally enter between ports of entry to evade capture. Similar to the Biden administration, the Trump administration is not publicly releasing gotaway data. It remains unclear how many are still illegally entering the country.

Apprehensions at the southwest border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas totaled 12,901 last month, according to the data.

Between ports of entry, Border Patrol apprehended 9,848 last month, another record low. That’s 94% less than the monthly average during the Biden administration and 96% less than during the peak reported at the southwest border in December 2023.

The Border Patrol apprehension total was also less than the number agents apprehended in just 4 days in June 2024.

Border Patrol apprehensions between ports of entry along the southwest border this fiscal year through June were also 14% lower than they were in just one month on average from fiscal years 1992 through 2024, CBP notes.

At the northern border, 4,952 illegal border crossers were apprehended, the highest they’ve been all year. The total is still a significant drop from the Biden era when a record 18,569 were apprehended in June 2023.

During the Biden administration, a record number of illegal border crossers were apprehended at the northern border, including the greatest number of suspected or known terrorists on a federal watchlist, The Center Square reported.

While apprehensions remained low, drug seizures increased last month.

CBP seizures of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl and marijuana (combined by weight) increased by 49% from June 2024, according to CBP data.

By fiscal year, drug seizures increased by 57% from fiscal 2024. The fiscal year goes from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

Cocaine seizures increased the most last month by 71% from May; CBP officers seized 6,242 pounds of cocaine nationwide. Heroin and fentanyl seizures also increased by 49% and 42%, respectively, over the same time period. CBP agents seized 68 pounds of heroin and 1,072 pounds of fentanyl last month.

When announcing the data, CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said, “Leadership and policy matter. When laws are enforced, fewer people will break the law.” Under the Trump administration, CBP “is fully enforcing our immigration and border security laws,” he said. This includes establishing “meaningful border security resulting in sustained deterrence of illegal crossings. CBP is preventing dangerous criminal aliens and illicit narcotics from entering our communities, enhancing the safety of every American for generations to come.”

The Department of Homeland Security again announced June was the 14th consecutive month “of zero releases at the border.”

CBP data contradicts this claim. Every month, unaccompanied alien children (UACs) are released into the country. Fiscal year to date, at least 1,000 UACs were reported illegally entering the country, according to CBP data.

According to federal data, 1,796 UACs were in federal care in June, down from 2,460 in January. More than 1,200 have been released to sponsors this fiscal year through the beginning of June, with the majority sent to California and Texas, according to the latest data.

In fiscal 2025, more than 24,200 UACs were sent to sponsors in the U.S. instead of being returned to their family in their home country. That total is down from more than 99,000 UACs sent to live with sponsors in the U.S. in fiscal 2024 and more than 113,000 in fiscal 2023. At the height of the border crisis, more than 127,000 UACs were sent to live with sponsors in fiscal 2022. The program overseeing their care has not been terminated by Congress or the Trump administration.

Child advocates have called for the program to be terminated and for greater regulatory oversight in states, citing extensive abuse and lack of vetting. Even though the Trump administration has implemented some reforms, facilitating UAC illegal entry into the country is ongoing.