CBS News’ Confirmed team is fact checking President Trump’s 2025 joint address to Congress Tuesday night, his first speech to both chambers of Congress since he won the presidential election in November. He’s expected to speak about his domestic and foreign policy agenda, the economy, his administration’s efforts to contain illegal immigration, and his plans for foreign policy, including the Middle East and Ukraine-Russia war.
Partially true: Trump claims illegal border crossings in February were “the lowest ever recorded.”
Trump: “As a result, illegal border crossings last month were by far, the lowest ever recorded. Ever.”
Details: The number of migrants crossing the U.S. southern border illegally in the first full month of President Trump’s second term plunged to a level not seen in at least 25 years, according to preliminary government data obtained by CBS News.
In February, Border Patrol recorded about 8,450 migrant apprehensions between official points of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border, the statistics show.
The total, which may still be adjusted when the data are published, would mark the lowest monthly apprehensions since fiscal year 2000, the earliest period with publicly available monthly data. While monthly data before fiscal year 2000 is not publicly available, the last time Border Patrol averaged roughly 8,000 apprehensions per month over a year was in fiscal year 1968, according to historical statistics.
February’s total is a seismic change from recent years. During some days during a record-breaking spike in migrant crossings in 2023, the Biden administration recorded over 8,000 apprehensions in 24 hours.
By Camilo Montoya-Galvez
