Trump empties the border: 2025 closes as the one with the fewest arrests in 50 years

Between October 2024 and September 2025 (fiscal year), the number of encounters with migrants It was reduced by 80%, going from 2.1 million to 443,671 on the shared border between the United States and Mexico.

Of the 12 months that make up the fiscal year, four corresponded to the Joe Biden government where 357,977 encounters were registered, which represents 81% of the year 2025. In the eight months of the Trump administration there were 85,694, that is, 19%.

Prior to his return to the White House, Trump toughened his speech against immigration and from his first minutes signed executive orders against what he considered an “invasion,” among them the elimination of programs that use federal resources in favor of non-US people, declaring an emergency on the southern border, and ordering to protect the American people against invasion.

José María Ramos, professor-researcher at the Colegio de la Frontera Norte, explains that the measures taken by the Trump government have discouraged the migratory flow.

“In the Biden administration there was a great incentive for migration not only from Central America and Mexico, but at a global level, especially Latin America; however, with Trump there has been a strengthening of immigration control and in addition, the containment that the Mexican government promoted in the first months of the year has been presented,” he comments.

Trump accused the Biden administration of causing a “bloodbath” by allowing the arrival of irregular migrants to the United States, which would end in his second term.

The “invisible wall” of Mexico

However, Mexico has also contributed to stopping the migratory flow. The government of President Claudia Sheinbaum deployed 10,000 members of the Armed Forces since February 5 (16 days after the start of Trump’s four-year term). The deployment occurred after the US president threatened to impose tariffs on Mexico.

Miguel Ángel Corona, professor and researcher at the Universidad Ibero campus Puebla, explains that Mexico’s security deployment has contributed to erecting a kind of wall to contain irregular migration.

“If we refer to the migratory flows that come from Central and South America, the role that Mexico has played has been important, without a doubt Mexico has been a containment barrier so that so many do not arrive. Of course, the politics of fear also has a lot of effect, that fear that Mr. Trump has spread saying that if they enter that country they will be persecuted,” says the expert.