Border crossings in the Southwest are reportedly down as President Donald Trump’s administration begins its immigration crack down.
The number of daily Southwest border encounters dropped by nearly half on Wednesday, according to a report.
Border Patrol apprehended just over 840 people crossing the border between ports of entry, reported NBC News.
The figure is down from nearly half the daily crossings in December which were 1,552, NBC reported, citing a U.S. official.
Crossings in December were lower than they were the same month in 2020 ahead of Joe Biden’s first term. “We saw a similar drop in early 2017,” noted the outlet’s Homeland Security correspondent Julia Ainsley.
Since taking office four days ago, Trump has wasted no time implementing his anti-immigration agenda.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, via video conference, Trump told delegates that his administration has “halted all entry of illegal border crossers.”
“That action, as you’ve probably seen, has already started very strongly,” Trump said. “Have deployed active duty U.S. military and National Guard troops to the border to assist in repelling the invasion. It was really an invasion. We will not allow our territory to be violated.”
The Independent has contacted Customs and Border Protection for more information.
At his inaugural address on Monday, Trump announced a slew of drastic executive orders targeting immigration on his very first day in office.
His administration also shut down the CBP One app effective immediately, leaving families waiting for appointments at the border in the lurch as their appointments were suddenly canceled.
Approximately 11 million immigrants were living in the U.S. illegally in 2022, according to the latest estimates from Pew Research Center.
In 2024, there were around 2.1 million encounters at the southern border, according to the latest CBP data. This was down by 14 percent from 2023 when figures show closer to 2.5 million encounters at the border.
In December 2023, there were over 249,000 encounters at the border, a record-breaking month.
As part of the anti-immgration plans, Trump signed an executive order revoking the right to birthright citizenship — which is protected by the 14th Amendment — effective from February. The move already faces legal challenges from 22 states and activist groups.
In the latest setback for the new administration, a federal judge has temporarily blocked Trump’s order in one of the legal challenges.
