McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Tougher immigration policies by the Trump administration have resulted in a marked decrease in encounters of migrant families at the southern border, but there’s been an increase in unaccompanied youth and single men at the border, according to a new report.
During Fiscal Year 2025, unauthorized migration at the U.S.-Mexico border “plunged dramatically” and those who are crossing into the United States has changed, according to a new report by the Migration Policy Institute.
The report “A New Era of Immigration Enforcement Unfolds in the U.S. Interior and at the Border under Trump 2.0,” analyzes data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for the fiscal year that just ended Sept. 30.
It notes an increase in single adults and unaccompanied migrant children from Central America trying to cross the border illegally.
The report finds that most migrants who try to illegally cross the U.S. border are repatriated back quickly because of repatriation agreements with other countries.
There were 444,000 migrant encounters at and between legal U.S. ports of entry in Fiscal Year 2025. That’s down from 2.1 million encounters in Fiscal Year 2024, the report says. Border Patrol encountered 238,000 people — that’s the lowest in 55 years. The remaining 206,000 were encountered at ports of entry by CBP’s Office of Field Operations.
From February through September, Border Patrol processed more than 94% of migrants it encountered for expedited removal, voluntary return or ICE detention.
Since 2014, large groups of family units have traditionally crossed the Southwest border illegally. However, this past fiscal year, the number of family unit encounters dropped from 27% to 12%. Meanwhile, the number of single adults increased to 79% from 63%, the report says.
“This makes today’s migration patterns resemble those of 13 years ago, when most migrants arriving at the border were single adults from Mexico or unaccompanied children from Central America,” the report says.
The number of Mexican migrants encountered rose to 69% in September, up from 45% in October 2024. During that same time, migrants from countries other than Mexico dropped from 28% to 11%. That includes migrants from Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia and Venezuela, the report says.
MPI is an independent, nonpartisan think tank. It urges ICE and other government organizations “to provide transparent, regular, reliable immigration enforcement data” to track future immigration enforcement trends.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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