President Donald Trump’s border crackdown posted another milestone in August: Zero illegal immigrants were released into the U.S. via parole for the fourth straight month, as total encounters fell to historic lows, according to Customs and Border Protection.
CBP reported 26,197 total encounters nationwide in August, 93% below the Biden administration-era monthly peak of 370,883 in August 2023. At the southwest border, Border Patrol recorded 6,319 apprehensions, averaging 204 a day.
CBP contrasted those figures with August 2024, when Border Patrol paroled 10,186 migrants along the southwest border under Biden-era policies.
Since Trump returned to office, the administration has effectively shut off humanitarian/public-benefit parole pipelines.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services paused new I-134A sponsor filings on Jan. 28, pending a review of categorical parole programs. And the Department of Homeland Security began terminating the CHNV (Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela) parole processes in June.
“We are proving every day that tough, consistent enforcement works,” CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said Friday in a statement in a news release. “Border crossings are at record lows, mass catch-and-release is over, and our agents are delivering results for the American people.”
CBP also reported that combined seizures of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and marijuana rose 9.2% from July. Agents seized 755 pounds of fentanyl in August, while methamphetamine seizures increased 37%.
Meanwhile, DHS announced Tuesday that more than 2 million illegal immigrants have been removed or have self-deported since Trump took office on Jan. 20, including an estimated 1.6 million voluntary departures and more than 400,000 deportations.
“The numbers don’t lie: 2 million illegal aliens have been removed or self-deported in just 250 days — proving that President [Donald] Trump’s policies and Secretary [Kristi] Noem’s leadership are working and making American communities safe,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.
“Ramped-up immigration enforcement targeting the worst of the worst is removing more and more criminal illegal aliens off our streets every day and is sending a clear message to anyone else in this country illegally: Self-deport or we will arrest and deport you.”
DHS has also pointed to a United Nations-backed, tri-country report showing a 97% drop this year in northbound migration through Central America.
The study also found that 49% of those who decided to stop their journey toward the U.S. did so because they thought it would be impossible to enter under Trump. Likewise, 46% said fears of detention or deportation led to abandoning their attempt to illegally enter the U.S.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
