To the men and women of CBP’s El Paso Sector and federal law enforcement nationwide: you are delivering. Since the current administration took over, your work has produced numbers that speak for themselves. You are making our communities safer, and you have our respect.
The problem is, New Mexicans — especially those living closest to the border — are not being told about your success.
The Duke believes policy that delivers deserves sunlight. Here are the official numbers New Mexico’s mainstream media is ignoring.
Encounters Are Down 95 Percent
The sheer volume of illegal crossings has collapsed. Nationwide, Border Patrol recorded 237,538 total encounters in Fiscal Year 2025.1 That is a massive 95 percent drop from the 2.2 million peak in 2022 under the previous administration, marking the lowest total since 1970.1
Locally, the El Paso Sector — which covers our southern border — recorded an 81.6 percent drop in encounters for FY 2025 compared to the year prior.2 And it’s getting better. For the start of FY 2026, El Paso Sector reported a daily average of just 34 migrant encounters.2 In previous years, that same week averaged between 2,100 and 12,000 encounters per day.2
Rescues, Deaths, and Fentanyl Are Plummeting
When crossings drop, so do the tragedies and the trafficking that accompany them.
In the El Paso Sector so far in FY 2026, agents have recorded 103 rescues and 3 deaths.2 That represents a staggering 99 percent decrease compared to the 2021–2024 period.2 Fewer crossings mean fewer people dying in the desert, and fewer resources drained from local emergency services.
The drug flow is also shrinking. CBP reported seizing 11,486 pounds of fentanyl across the U.S.–Mexico border in FY 2025.3 While still a lethal amount, that is a 46 percent drop from FY 2024 and a 57 percent drop from the 2023 peak.3 Fewer crossings mean fewer distracted agents, fewer mules slipping through the gaps, and fewer poisons reaching New Mexico streets.
The Information Gap
These numbers represent a massive policy success and a victory for federal law enforcement. But if you rely on New Mexico’s mainstream news outlets — the Albuquerque Journal, KRQE, KOB, or KOAT — you probably haven’t heard a word about it.
Instead, our local media focuses relentlessly on the politics of resistance: covering Albuquerque’s new sanctuary spaces ordinance, amplifying politicians pushing back on deportation efforts, and quoting officials warning about the economic impacts of enforcement.4,5
If you want to know that crossings are down 95 percent, or that El Paso Sector encounters dropped 81 percent, or that daily crossings plummeted from thousands to just 34, you have to watch El Paso television or read national data reports.1,2
New Mexicans, especially those in Doña Ana, Luna, and Otero counties, live closest to the danger. They deserve to know when the danger is receding. They deserve to know that the agents working their sector are achieving historic results. And they deserve a local press willing to report when enforcement policy actually works.
The NM professionals on the line are doing their jobs. It’s time New Mexico’s media did theirs.
Endnotes
- Pew Research Center: Migrant encounters at lowest level in over 50 years (Feb 2026) — pewresearch.org
- KVIA El Paso: El Paso sector begins FY 2026 with another decrease (Nov 2025) — kvia.com
- Washington Office on Latin America: Drug seizure data update (Nov 2025) — wola.org
- Albuquerque City Council passes Safer Community Spaces Ordinance (Mar 2026) — abqjournal.com
- Opinion: Finally, a grown-up conversation about the border (Mar 2026) — abqjournal.com
