Members of the Republican Party are heaping praise on President Donald Trump and claiming victory following news that the number of immigrants denied entry at the southern border fell in February to the lowest recorded number in U.S. history.
“Illegal border crossings in February — his first full month in office — were the lowest ever recorded, down 94% from last February and down 96% from the all-time high of the Biden Administration,” the White House said in a statement Monday morning.
Trump posted on social media over the weekend monthly border data, which have historically been released several weeks into the following month by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“The month of February, my first full month in Office, had the LOWEST number of Illegal Immigrants trying to enter our Country in History – BY FAR! There were only 8,326 apprehensions of Illegals by Border Patrol at the U.S. – Mexico Border, all of whom were quickly ejected from our Nation or, when necessary, prosecuted for crimes against the United States of America,” Trump wrote in the first part of the post. “This means that very few people came – The Invasion of our Country is OVER.”
The 8,326 figure is lower than any publicly available government data dating back to 2000. During Trump’s first term, his lowest months ranged between 15,000 and 20,000 arrests per month.
If that pace keeps up, it would put the United States on track for roughly 100,000 arrests in a year. The Border Patrol was created in 1924, and the most recent year that annual arrests fell below the 100,000 figure was 1967.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote in a post on X on Sunday afternoon that the sharp decline from previous February months well over 100,000 arrests was the result of ‘the world is hearing our message: do not come to our country illegally.”
“If you do, we will find you, arrest you, and send you back,” Noem wrote.
February was the lowest month in recorded history for encounters at our border. The world is hearing our message: do not come to our country illegally. If you do, we will find you, arrest you, and send you back.
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) March 2, 2025
Thank you President @realDonaldTrump for your strong leadership and… pic.twitter.com/ypmxe9ur1B
The number of illegal immigrants arrested by Border Patrol at the southern border in the three previous Februaries has ranged from 130,000 to 160,000 people per month, according to CBP data.
During the Biden administration, President Joe Biden had maintained that Congress would have to pass comprehensive immigration reform, specifically a bill that three bipartisan senators attempted to negotiate in late 2023, to get a hold of the border.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) told the Washington Examiner in a statement Monday that what Trump had done at the southern border in one month proved Biden’s approach was wrong and that he had the power all along to address illegal immigration.
“It is more apparent than ever how simple it would’ve been for the Biden administration to do the same,” Green said. “I remain committed to working with the Trump administration and House leadership to provide the tools our frontline law enforcement needs to ensure the safety and security of the American people.”
Conservative Washington think tank the Heritage Foundation agreed with Green, as did a plethora of other Republicans.
“We didn’t need a fake border security bill, we needed a President willing to enforce the immigration laws already on the books,” the Heritage Foundation wrote in a statement on X on Monday.
Ardent Trump supporter, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), praised Trump’s leadership on the issue.
“The Biden regime invited every corner of the world to invade our wide open Southern border, inviting a flood of crime, drugs, and human trafficking into our country,” Greene wrote in a post to X on Monday. “Under President Trump’s leadership, illegal border crossings have plummeted to record lows. President Trump is enforcing our laws, securing our borders, and making America SAFE again!”
Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) chided Biden Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for not doing enough to stop the flow of people between 2021 and 2024.
“Mayorkas: ‘We’re not responsible for the border crisis. Only Congress can fix it.’ Biden & MSM: ‘Congress must act!'” Hunt wrote in a post Sunday. “FACT CHECK: Trump SECURED the border within days. The invasion was INTENTIONAL. The ‘Congress must act’ narrative? A LIE.”
Mayorkas: “We’re not responsible for the border crisis. Only Congress can fix it.”
— Wesley Hunt (@WesleyHuntTX) March 2, 2025
Biden & MSM: “Congress must act!”
???? FACT CHECK: Trump SECURED the border within days.
The invasion was INTENTIONAL.
The “Congress must act” narrative?
A LIE.pic.twitter.com/xPHauKibFi
Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX), a fellow border state lawmaker, has been critical of Biden’s handling of the border since 2021, hammering the former commander in chief.
“For months, Biden claimed that he had no power to put a stop to the border crisis,” Fallon wrote in a post to X. “After only weeks in office, President Trump’s no-nonsense border policies have led to record low illegal crossings.”
Todd Bensman, senior national security fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies, wrote in a blog post Monday that the decline meant that the “greatest mass-migration border crisis ever to have stricken the United States and probably any other country in the world … is now, finally, at its end.”
Despite the downturn, Trump still faces plenty of uphill battles.
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Andrew Bates, White House senior deputy press secretary under Biden, noted in an email to the Washington Examiner that Biden was able to bring the number of migrant arrests back down to normal levels before leaving office and that the economy remains a concern for many.
“Trump inherited the lowest border crossings in over four years — but they would’ve been even lower if he and Republicans hadn’t blocked thousands of ICE and Border Patrol hires for over a year,” Bates wrote. “And Trump has broken his #1 promise: the costs he said he’d lower on ‘Day One’ are skyrocketing as he raises the prices and taxes middle class families pay with tariffs that fund tax handouts for his boss, Elon Musk, and other corrupt billionaires.”