Border Encounters Drop To Record Low In November: CBP

Authored by Kimberley Hayek via The Epoch Times,

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported another drop in border encounters for November, extending a streak of dips under President Donald Trump’s administration, according to preliminary data released in a statement Thursday.

The agency recorded 30,367 total encounters nationwide last month, down from October’s 30,573. The two months combined mark the lowest opening to a fiscal year on record, with 60,940 encounters throughout October and November, the statement said.

CBP maintained its streak of zero releases of apprehended individuals into the United States for the seventh straight month, processing them all according to law.

“Once again, we have a record low number of encounters at the border and the seventh straight month of zero releases. Month after month, we are delivering results that were once thought impossible: the most secure border in history and unmatched enforcement successes,” Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in the statement.

Noem added that U.S. borders are “safer than ever.”

CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said the agency will not be slowing down.

“These numbers reflect the tireless efforts of our agents and officers who are delivering results that redefine border security,” he said.

Border Patrol apprehensions averaged under 10,000 monthly since Trump took office for his second term, the data show. Daily southwest border apprehensions averaged 245—less than 11 per hour—a 95 percent decrease from the prior administration’s 5,110 daily average from February 2021 to December 2024.

In December 2023, apprehensions reached 336 hourly, which today would represent more than a day’s total.

Drug interdictions increased in November, with 54,947 pounds seized nationwide—an increase of 33 percent from October. Fentanyl seizures reached 1,543 pounds, a 59 percent jump from October. Methamphetamine seizures totaled 21,935 pounds, an 118 percent increase. Cocaine confiscations hit 8,240 pounds, a 40 percent increase.

Earlier in the year, July saw 24,630 nationwide encounters, a 2.4 percent fall from June and almost 90 percent below the averages under the Biden administration. June’s figures came in at 25,243 nationwide and 6,070 at the southwest border. Both June and July entailed no releases.

Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, highlighted in February that illegal crossings dropped 93 percent, higher than reductions seen during Trump’s first term.

“We’ve got the numbers this morning. The crossings on the border are down 93 percent,” Homan said. “That’s a bigger decrease than under the first Trump administration.”

In July, Noem said Trump had “obliterated” the border crisis. By September, the administration announced having located nearly 30,000 missing illegal immigrant children by November. ICE operations in November also arrested 1,505 alleged criminal aliens in Texas.

Drug interdictions from October 2024 to January 2025 totaled 66,500 pounds overall, lower than the previous year’s equivalent period but targeting high-threat substances. In November, a seizure of 20 pounds of methamphetamine hidden in frozen meat at an Arizona port made headlines.

Under President Joe Biden, December 2023 saw 302,000 encounters, which was a record high, while fiscal 2025 recorded the lowest number of apprehensions in more than half a century: 237,538.