Border Patrol encounters with undocumented immigrants in the El Paso area declined by 89% in fiscal year 2025 from the historic highs seen two years earlier, according to new data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
“The numbers tell the story – enforcement works,” CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said in a statement released Friday. “We are delivering the most secure border in American history, thanks to the president’s leadership. Border crossings remain historically low, and those who do cross are being apprehended, detained, prosecuted, and swiftly removed.”
Across the Mexican and Canadian borders, encounters with undocumented immigrants in fiscal year 2025 – which ran from October 2024 to September 2025 – declined by 93% from the peak year of 2023 during the Biden administration, Trump administration officials said.
The amount of drugs seized by immigration enforcement agents also declined significantly in the El Paso region, though it’s not clear if that was due to a decline in drug smuggling or a shift in enforcement priorities to immigration rather than drug trafficking.
Joe Biden was president for about 3½ months of fiscal year 2025, with Donald Trump taking office on Jan. 20, 2025. The Biden administration began implementing more stringent asylum restrictions in 2023 while also creating new pathways to legal entry for migrants, which led to a decrease in border encounters in fiscal year 2024.
After taking office, Trump further tightened access to asylum, put military forces on the border and removed the added paths to legal immigration begun by Biden.
In the Border Patrol’s El Paso sector – which includes Far West Texas and all of New Mexico – agents encountered just over 47,000 undocumented migrants in FY 2025, down from more than 427,000 in FY 2023.
The Border Patrol generally is responsible for enforcing immigration laws between ports of entry. Customs and Border Protection officers enforce immigration laws at ports of entry, like international bridges.
In CBP’s El Paso area of responsibility – which also includes Far West Texas and all of New Mexico – officers reported encountering almost 33,000 undocumented immigrants in FY 2025. That was well below the number of encounters for the prior two fiscal years, but more than in FY 2022.
Drug seizures in the El Paso area
In FY 2025, CBP officers assigned to the El Paso area reported seizing 5,900 pounds of drugs, a decrease of 35% from the prior year. Border Patrol agents in the El Paso sector reported seizing 1,800 pounds of drugs in FY 2025, a decline of 61% from the previous year.
Marijuana accounts for 70% of drugs seized in the El Paso area, based on weight. Marijuana seizures by CBP and Border Patrol agents in the El Paso area dropped by 75% between fiscal years 2024 and 2025.
Seizures of methamphetamine, the second-largest amount of drugs smuggled in the El Paso area, declined by 55% in those two years. Seizures of cocaine increased by 70% and fentanyl seizures declined by 52%.
Nationwide, drug seizures by CBP and Border Patrol increased by 1.7% between FY 2024 and FY 2025, but declined by 3.5% at the Southwest border.
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