A Mexican border town is seeing unexpectedly calm conditions despite President Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign. Business owners in Nogales report fewer crossing attempts and lower drug trafficking, even as the administration touted sweeping enforcement measures at the border.
Fotógrafo Filiberto said, “Drug trafficking has been controlled a lot, there’s barely any now. It’s not like it used to be.” But local deportations remain lower than anticipated, and smugglers seem deterred by Trump’s hardened approach.
Supporting this trend, the Brookings Institute found that border-crossing dips are undercutting deportation totals and likely thwarting Trump’s goal of mass removals. In the Laredo Sector, illegal crossings dropped by roughly 70%, from over 100 daily to only 25–30, reducing cartel-powered smuggling.
On a broader scale, crossings along the Rio Grande and in Mexico have fallen to levels unseen since the 1960s, according to Wall Street Journal and Financial Times reports. Migrants are turning back home instead of claiming asylum in the U.S., diminishing the reach of promised deportations.
Despite this calm, Trump administration officials continue to highlight these quiet months as proof of border enforcement success. Critics argue that reduced migrant encounters limit both crossings and deportations.
Trump may have vowed to deport “millions,” but these early signs show a steady, not explosive, pace. With crossings lower, fewer migrants to deport, and even local Mexican communities feeling relief, the border story this term seems to favor enforcement finesse over mass removals.
