April marks first monthly increase in migrant apprehensions under Trump

Migrant apprehensions at the United States southwest border rebounded 16.7% in April, despite a 94.12% year-over-year drop in the first three full months of Donald Trump’s presidency, according to data updated by Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The US Border Patrol apprehended 8,383 migrants in April, up 1,199 from 7,184 in March, when apprehensions in the sector hit a record low.

The low increase in apprehensions comes despite a series of measures promoted by the government that have led to a 93.5% decrease in arrests compared to the same month in 2024, when 128,895 migrants were apprehended.

There are now an average of 279 arrests per day, a “dramatic reduction” from the average of 4,297 in 2024, the CBP said in a statement.

The statistics also show that from February to April 2025, following Trump’s return to the White House on Jan. 20, 23,912 migrants were apprehended at the border with Mexico, some 383,000 fewer than the 407,009 apprehensions in the same period in 2024.

Including the 29,105 apprehensions in January, the total number of migrants apprehended in the first four months of 2025 is 53,017, down 90% from the 531,224 arrested in the same period in 2024.

CBP attributed the data to the Trump administration’s “decisive and effective enforcement” of migration law, which has led to “overwhelming improvements in securing the border.”

“For the first time in years, more agents are back on the ground patrolling an area where CBP had no operational capacity or manpower just six months ago,” said Pete Flores, acting commissioner for US CBP.

The southwest US border has seen a decline in immigration apprehensions since June 2024, when the administration of former President Joe Biden (2021-2025) implemented asylum restrictions.

After Trump took office, restrictions tightened, making it almost impossible for a foreign national to apply for asylum at the border; in April, “only five undocumented migrants” were allowed to enter temporarily in the US for Cases of Special Interest, CBP noted.

Among other measures, Trump has militarized the border, ordered raids at several points in the country, revoked migration benefits for several nationalities, and persuaded Mexico to deploy 10,000 members of its National Guard to control the transit of drugs and people.