Breaking Down the Latest Border Numbers for April
It’s a good thing that almost three-quarters of illegal entrants are from Mexico — and border security dodged a bullet when the ‘Senate border bill’ failed
By Andrew R. Arthur on May 22, 2025
CBP has released the latest numbers on aliens encountered at the borders and the ports in April, and they show that the security that has prevailed at the Southwest border since Donald Trump returned to office continues. More pertinently, however, they also show that illegal migration has returned to its historic pattern, primarily involving Mexican nationals seeking illicit entry; and they reveal what Congress avoided in not passing the so-called “Senate border bill”.
Border Patrol Apprehensions
In April, Border Patrol agents at the nation’s borders — Southwest, Northern, and coastal — apprehended 10,014 illegal entrants, a 22 percent increase compared to March, but a 92.4-percent decline compared to the 131,078 apprehensions in April 2024.
At the Southwest border, however, that month-to-month increase was more modest, with agents at the U.S.-Mexico line apprehending 8,383 illegal entrants last month, just 16 percent more than in March.
The much more interesting fact, though, is that of those 8,383 aliens apprehended after entering illegally in April, nearly three-quarters — 73 percent — were Mexican nationals. In March, two-thirds (66.3 percent) of all apprehended aliens were from Mexico, and in February, just over half (50.7 percent) were. Let me explain why that’s key to continued security.
Traditionally, nearly all illegal aliens at the Southwest border were from Mexico. In FY 2007, 93.2 percent of all Southwest border apprehensions involved Mexican nationals, and in FY 2000, that figure was 98.2 percent.
https://cis.org/Arthur/Breaking-Down-Latest-Border-Numbers-April
