CBP Reports 85 Percent Drop in Illegal Immigrant Arrests at Southwest Border

Inadmissible aliens encountered at ports of entry has dropped 93 percent.

Illegal immigrants wait to board a U.S. Border Patrol bus to be taken for processing after crossing the border from Mexico, in Yuma, Ariz., on May 22, 2022. Mario Tama/Getty Images

The number of illegal immigrant arrests by Border Patrol agents along the southern border dropped 85 percent in the last 10 days of January, compared to the same period the year prior, according to the latest data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

“CBP is no longer catching and releasing illegal aliens into the U.S.,” the agency said in a Feb. 18 statement.