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Fact check: In 5 months there has been no undocumented immigrants.
Executive Summary
The claim that “in 5 months there has been no undocumented immigrants” is misleading: official statements and media reports cite a string of months with zero releases of certain migrants at the southwest border, but those statements do not equate to there being no undocumented immigrants entering, present, or apprehended in the United States. Publicly available Department of Homeland Security and media reporting from October 2025 confirm five consecutive months of zero releases in certain operational categories while also reporting hundreds of thousands of Border Patrol encounters in fiscal 2025, which contradicts a literal reading of the claim [1] [2] [3].
1. How officials are phrasing the victory — “zero releases” versus “no immigrants”
Officials and administration communications emphasize a metric described as “zero releases” over a multi-month stretch; this language appears in DHS and Trump administration announcements and in multiple media summaries reporting on border operations in October 2025 [1] [2] [3]. The phrase “zero releases” typically refers to specific operational decisions about whether apprehended migrants are released into the U.S. interior pending legal proceedings, not to the absolute absence of undocumented border crossers or migrants in the country. Several analyses in the record explicitly link the administration’s messaging to this specific operational outcome but do not provide evidence that no undocumented migrants existed or entered during the five-month period in question [2] [4]. The distinction between administrative releases and the broader presence of undocumented migrants is central to interpreting the claim accurately.
2. Cross-border encounters and apprehensions tell a different story
Multiple sources report that fiscal year 2025 finished with approximately 237,565 to 238,000 Border Patrol encounters, described as the lowest since 1970, and these figures coexist with the “zero release” messaging [1] [3] [5]. Encounters and apprehensions are direct records of people stopped at the border and therefore contradict an absolute assertion that there were no undocumented immigrants over a multi-month period. The numbers show a substantial decline compared with recent years but still reflect large flows of people interacting with U.S. border authorities. These data points underscore that operational metrics can be framed as successes while leaving substantive border activity intact, and that the literal claim of “no undocumented immigrants” is not supported by encounter statistics [1] [5].
3. Local agency reports and incident logs undermine an absolute zero claim
Local and field-level reports compiled by CBP, DHS, and media outlets document incidents involving apprehensions, deaths, and seizures in October 2025, which are inconsistent with the idea of zero undocumented presence [6] [7]. For example, press releases describe agents responding to migrants in medical distress and fatal vehicle pursuits involving individuals identified as illegal aliens. These operational narratives show ongoing enforcement and encounters that are incompatible with a blanket statement that no undocumented migrants were present or encountered over five months. The existence of these reported incidents highlights the gap between national-level talking points about releases and on-the-ground events recorded by customs and border patrol sources [6].
4. What DHS and ICE materials actually confirm — and what they do not
DHS and ICE materials cited in the sample confirm enforcement activity, leadership changes, and claims about release policies, but they do not substantiate a claim of zero undocumented migrants nationwide for five months [8] [9] [10]. DHS statements celebrating the lowest apprehension counts since 1970 and months with zero releases are specific, time-bound metrics; they do not claim elimination of undocumented migration or assert that no undocumented individuals are present in the United States. ICE internal communications and reporting emphasize arrests, removals, and operational shifts rather than asserting the absence of undocumented populations, which means the original statement oversteps what the agencies have documented [1] [11].
5. Political messaging and the risk of conflating metrics with reality
Multiple items in the dataset reflect administration messaging that frames operational metrics as broader policy wins [2] [4]. This framing serves a political purpose—portraying border security measures as decisive—while omitting nuance about the difference between releases, encounters, and the actual presence of undocumented migrants. Independent reporting and agency data show continued encounters and enforcement actions even amid declarations of “zero releases,” suggesting an agenda to highlight a narrow operational success. Readers should treat the original claim as a rhetorical simplification rather than an empirically supported statement about the absence of undocumented immigrants [2] [3].
Conclusion: Claim assessment and what remains unanswered
The claim as stated is false in literal terms and misleading in rhetorical effect: the evidence supports a record of months with zero releases in certain contexts, and a marked decline in encounters for fiscal 2025, but it does not support the broader proposition that there were no undocumented immigrants during a five-month span. Key gaps remain—precise definitions of “no releases,” the scope of metrics used, and separate counts for apprehensions versus releases—so careful reading of agency statements and encounter data is necessary to avoid conflating a narrow operational achievement with the total absence of undocumented migration [1] [2] [5] [6].