Texas border sheriff says illegal crossings have seen 'dramatic decline' as CA migrant center shuts down

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A Texas sheriff, whose county shares 54 miles of the U.S. southern border with Mexico, told Fox News Digital he has seen a "dramatic decline" in illegal migrant crossings since President Donald Trump took office, specifically, a sharp decrease in the last two weeks. 

"Since President Trump took over, we have seen a continued decline in apprehensions," Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland told Fox. "This past two-week period, we should have been busier because it coincides with the full moon cycle, that's usually when we see more activity in our area."

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The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed earlier this month that April year-over-year apprehensions at the border were down 93%. CBP reported 129,000 apprehensions in April 2024 under the Biden administration, compared to 8,383 this past month under Trump. 

"You know, during the Biden administration, we saw, just like the rest of the U.S.-Mexico border, record levels of crossings and gotaways in our county," Cleveland explained. "We also saw record levels of deaths from people trying to enter the United States. So that was definitely a challenge for us when you talk about the 10th largest county in the state of Texas, just over 2300 square miles, 54 miles of river."

Trump border czar Tom Homan weighed in on the dramatic decrease in illegal crossings, telling Fox News Digital last week that the U.S. border "is the most secure in the nation's history."

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"The way we did it, that we got a president in the White House, a strong president, who simply ruled a lot of [Executive Orders], the same [Executive Orders] that were proved effective in Trump 45, remain in Mexico, third state country agreements, ending catch and release, and continue building border barriers," Homan told Fox.

Cleveland's comments come days after a San Diego immigrant center shut down due to an "unprecedented decrease in illegal crossings this year."

"In 3/2025, San Diego Sector arrested 1,199 illegal aliens with an average of 38 per day. This was a 186% drop compared to 3/2024," the U.S. Border Patrol San Diego Sector posted to X on Sunday. 

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Cleveland noted there might be additional facility closures if illegal crossing numbers continue to plummet. 

"As the border activity becomes slower and we see less and less crossings, we're starting to see Border Patrol close more of these south side of facilities," the Texas sheriff added. "We don't have any out here in our area of West Texas. The closest one we had was down in Eagle Pass."

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"There's no reason to spend that money to keep those open, and they can definitely use that money in other parts of the border."