Border agents record shockingly-low number of illegal crossings, one week into second Trump presidency

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Less than 600 people crossed illegally into the U.S. from Mexico on Sunday – a stunningly low number since President Donald Trump took office.

Sources tell Fox News that not a single one of the nine sectors received more than 200 crossings on Jan. 26, and the number of daily encounters only reached 582 in total. The Del Rio sector – which is the same sector that would sustain over 4,000 crossings per day during the height of the border crisis in December 2023 – only recorded 60 crossings.

For comparison, the daily number of border encounters during the final days of the Biden White House teetered between 1,200 to 1,400 per day. 

The numbers have fallen even further since Jan. 20, and a Fox News Digital exclusive last week found that the numbers dropped sharply.

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US Army soldiers patrol the US-Mexico border at Eagle Pass, Texas, on January 24, 2025.  (Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)

A total of 2,523 border encounters were logged in the first three days of the Trump administration, with daily tallies of 1,073, 736, and 714 from January 20 to January 22, respectively.

Meanwhile, 3,908 encounters were logged in the last few days of the Biden administration. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sources told Fox News that there were 1,288 encounters nationwide on Jan. 17, then 1,266 on Jan. 18 and 1,354 on Jan. 19. 

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SUNLAND PARK, NEW MEXICO, US – JANUARY 25: Border patrol agents monitor an area near the US-Mexican border in Sunland Park, New Mexico, on January 25, 2025. (Jorge Salgado/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The most recent border numbers were released on the same day that U.S. Border Patrol agents exchanged gunfire with suspected cartel members near Fronton, Texas, on Monday, but neither party was hit.

During his inauguration on Jan. 20, Trump vowed to immediately “declare a national emergency at our southern border.”

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A group of people cross the US-Mexico border from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua state, Mexico, into Sunland Park, New Mexico, US, on Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (Justin Hamel/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“All illegal entry will immediately be halted,” the Republican said. “And we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came…and I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.”

Andrea Margolis is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Readers can send story tips to andrea.margolis@fox.com.