A Month Into Trump's Presidency, Border Encounters Fall to Lowest Level Since 2017

Border authorities recorded around 15,700 encounters in the 30 days since Trump's inauguration, the lowest 30-day total since April 2017 and a 91 percent decline from the 166,900 monthly average under the Biden administration, according to Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen.

Encounters have plummeted 94 percent from their December 2023 peak of 263,900 under former president Joe Biden. During Biden's term, an estimated 8 million migrants entered the United States illegally, with more than 13,000 migrants convicted of murder remaining at large as of late September.