Migrants encounters drop to 150,000 in January, lowest since early 2021: sources

There were approximately 150,000 migrant encounters at the southern border in January, multiple sources tell Fox News, the lowest number since February 2021.

That would be the lowest number since February 2021, when there were just over 101,000 encounters after a January that had just over 78,000 encounters. Numbers shot up sharply after that and have remained at historic highs since, with over 1.7 million encounters in FY21 and 2.3 million in FY22.  In January 2022, there were 154,874 encounters -- which marked the lowest in fiscal year 2022.  Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.

He can be reached at adam.shaw2@fox.com or on Twitter.

While January is typically one of the quieter months at the border, the latest numbers mark a sharp drop from the more than 251,000 encountered in December, which was a new record. Meanwhile, sources said that the number of "gotaways" – illegal immigrants who slipped past agents – dropped to around 48,200, down from the 70,000+ seen in recent months.