Which countries accounted for the largest number of apprehensions at the US-Mexico border in 2025?

1. “Big picture” numbers: an unprecedented drop, but still concentrated origins

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and multiple outlets report that Border Patrol apprehensions between ports of entry at the southwest border totaled about 237,538–237,565–237,565–nearly 238,000 in fiscal year 2025, a 55-year low and a dramatic fall from the millions recorded in prior years ^{[2] [3] [1]}. Despite that collapse in totals, demographic breakdowns in CBP and monitoring-group summaries show that a large share of those encountered continued to be Mexican citizens and nationals from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador ^{[2] [4]}.

2. Which countries are repeatedly named as the largest sources?

Reporting and CBP summaries consistently identify Mexico first, and then Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — often grouped as “northern Central America” — as the most common origin countries for migrants encountered at the southwest border in 2024–25 analyses ^{[2] [4] [5]}. WOLA noted that 40% of all migrants entering CBP custody in FY25 were Mexican citizens, up from earlier years, while Border Patrol monthly notes list Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador as the leading nationalities for children and overall apprehensions ^{[2] [4]}.

3. What the official statistics release says — and what it doesn’t

CBP’s FY2025 enforcement materials and agency webpages publish nationwide and southwest-border encounter totals and describe the components of those encounters (Title 8 apprehensions, OFO inadmissibles, expulsions), but the preliminary CBP releases cited in reporting focus on totals and sector trends rather than publishing a single ranked table of apprehensions by country for FY25 in the news items summarized here ^{[6] [7]}. Therefore, while sources identify Mexico and the three northern Central American countries as the largest origin groups, a precise ranked country-by-country count for FY25 is not presented in the linked reporting ^{[6] [7]}.

4. Timing and administration context alter interpretation

Several outlets emphasize timing: CBS and allied reports say more than 60% of FY25 apprehensions occurred in the final months of the Biden presidency (October 2024–January 2025), before policy shifts under the returning Trump administration drove the larger drop in later months ^{[1] [3]}. Observers therefore caution that nationality shares can move quickly when overall volumes plunge; for example, WOLA found Mexico’s share of total encounters rose in FY25 compared with 2020–24 averages ^[2].

5. Sector and month patterns matter for country mixes

Border sectors and months show big variation: San Diego, El Paso, Rio Grande Valley and others have different mixes of origin countries and different trends month-to-month, including steep month-to-month falls that concentrated remaining flows in particular sectors and nationalities ^{[8] [4]}. Reporting of historic monthly lows (e.g., February–April 2025 months with only a few thousand apprehensions) means any country ranking can be skewed by short bursts or by policy actions such as shutting CBP One or asylum restrictions ^{[9] [8]}.

6. Competing narratives and potential incentives in the reporting

Federal releases and administration statements frame the sharp drop as enforcement success and national-security wins ^{[10] [11]}, while NGOs and analysts stress that earlier months’ volumes account for a large share of the fiscal-year total and warn that expulsions, asylum access restrictions, and deportation flights change both counts and humanitarian outcomes ^{[2] [12]}. Each source emphasizes different causes: DHS and Republican committees link declines to enforcement; WOLA, Adam Isacson and Pew point to policy design, CBP One shutdowns and Mexican cooperation as major drivers ^{[10] [2] [5]}.

7. Bottom line and reporting limits

Available reporting and CBP releases make clear the largest nationalities at the southwest U.S.–Mexico border in FY25 were Mexico and the northern Central American countries — Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — and that total apprehensions were about 237,500–238,000 for FY25 ^{[2] [1] [3]}. Sources do not publish in these excerpts a complete, definitive ranked table of apprehensions by every country for all of 2025; obtaining that exact ranked breakdown would require consulting CBP’s full demographic spreadsheets or a CBP country-by-country table not contained in the cited summaries ^{[7] [6]}.