Illegal immigration has decreased significantly, particularly at the southwest border. In February 2025, illegal border crossings dropped by 94% compared to February 2024, according to Customs and Border Protection. 

The drop follows the Trump administration’s crackdown on people crossing the border illegally.

“So what we’ve seen is because you’re no longer allow to claim asylum if you illegally cross the border from the ports of entry, we saw a decline there,” said Landon Hutchens, Customs and Border Protection public affairs official. “Now, particularly in the Trump administration, if you cross over the border illegally, you may place an expedited removal.”

Expediter removal is a process in which immigration officers can remove noncitizens without a hearing before an immigration judge.

Immigrants account for 14.3% of the U.S. population, according to the Pew Research Center. In 2023, the U.S. foreign-born population had its largest annual increase since 2000, reaching 47.8 million, similar to the whole population of Spain. 

The Biden administration had a high level of activity regarding immigration. As of December 2024, Biden issued a total of 605 immigration-related executive actions, according to the Migration Policy Institute (MPI). 

Mostly, Mexican male single adults were the ones attempting to cross clandestinely to seek work. According to the MPI, a new pattern has increased since 2021 where unaccompanied minors and migrant families from northern Central America make up a significant portion, often seeking asylum. 

The Biden administration’s immigration policies evolved over his presidency. Early efforts focused on reversing Trump policies, expanding humanitarian parole programs and proposing a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. In response to record-high border encounters, it later enforced stricter measures in asylum policies.

“So what we’ve seen is because you’re no longer allow to claim asylum if you illegally cross the border from the ports of entry, we saw a decline there,” Landon Hutchens, Customs and Border Protection public affairs official, said. “Now, particularly in the Trump administration, if you cross over the border illegally, you may place an expedited removal.”

Expediter removal is a process in which immigration officers can remove noncitizens without a hearing before an immigration judge. “So you may take you 365 days to get here, but we literally could have you processed and on a deportation flight back to your home country in hour,” Hutchens said. 

“We have seen a dramatic decrease in the number of encounters here in El Paso to an average of 64 per day, down from an all-time high two years ago of 2,700 people trying to illegally cross the border,” Hutchens said. “You can still claim asylum, but you have to do so in a legal manner through a consulate or embassy, which is traditionally how it’s been done.”

The Trump administration declared a national emergency at the southern border on the first day of his second term. During his campaign, Trump promised to carry out the largest deportation program, which aims to deport up to 1 million undocumented immigrants annually.