(The Center Square) – In President Donald Trump’s first year in office, illegal border crossings in Arizona plummeted to record lows.
They represent roughly a 92% drop from illegal entries and a record number of gotaways reported in Arizona during the Biden administration.
Under the Trump administration, illegal entries in Arizona this year were 66% less than the total number of gotaways that Border Patrol agents reported in Arizona during the Biden years, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data and gotaway data exclusively obtained by The Center Square.
In fiscal 2025, 65,813 illegal border crossers were apprehended in Arizona, excluding gotaways, according to CBP data. The fiscal year goes from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.
By comparison, more than 775,000 illegal border crossers were reported in fiscal 2023, including nearly 577,000 reported by CBP and nearly 200,000 gotaways that Border Patrol agents reported and exclusively obtained by The Center Square at the time.
Fiscal 2025 apprehensions represent a fraction of those apprehended in previous years, including 564,215 in fiscal 2024, 576,901 in fiscal 2023 and 571,720 in fiscal 2022, according to CBP data.
These totals exclude gotaways, the official CBP term for those who illegally enter between ports of entry to evade capture, don’t file immigration claims and don’t return to Mexico. CBP doesn’t publicly report this data. The Center Square obtained gotaway data from Border Patrol agents, reporting it each month. At least two million gotaways were reported during the Biden administration nationwide, The Center Square exclusively reported.
