Suspected human smuggling reports plummeted by 62% in 2025, according to a new report released by the US Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). This represents a huge drop in revenue to the cartels.
FinCEN’s analysis showed that financial institutions reported nearly $5 billion in transactions possibly connected to human smuggling between 2023 and 2025. The report reviewed Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) data and found several warning signs, including transactions between people with no clear relationship, money transfers that followed known migration routes, and unusually high levels of cash activity near the US-Mexico border.
FinCEN found that BSA reports of transactions likely linked to human smuggling peaked in 2024, the last year of President Joe Biden’s single term, and decreased dramatically in 2025, the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term.
Human Smuggling by the Numbers
Over the three-year period reviewed by FinCEN, suspected human smuggling reports were highest in 2024, when financial institutions filed 29,266 BSA reports, or about 43% of the total reviewed. In 2023, there were 27,256 reports, making up 40% of the total.
The number dropped sharply in 2025, with only 11,018 reports, or 16% of the total. To put the decline in perspective, the second quarter of 2024 alone had 8,663 filings, equal to about 79% of all the reports filed in 2025.
According to FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki, many human smuggling operations financially support larger international criminal groups, including drug cartels based in Mexico.
Biden’s Border Billions
FinCEN’s analysis is a stark reminder of the damage caused by President Biden and Democrats’ open-border policies. The Biden administration not only let millions of illegal immigrants pour into the United States unvetted but also put billions of dollars into the hands of violent cartels. Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH) explained last year that the cartels made more than $13 billion annually through smuggling operations.
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The Biden administration’s border policies helped fuel the cartels’ danger to the Western Hemisphere, including the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG), which traffics “fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and other illicit drugs” into the United States. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), synthetic opioids such as fentanyl are the leading cause of overdose deaths in the United States.
“CJNG’s ruthless ambition to expand its operations has led the organization to deploy kidnappings, torture, bombings, and executions of civilians, Mexican politicians, and military and law enforcement officers,” the Treasury Department explained last year, noting that the cartel is also involved in illegal immigrant smuggling.
Closed Borders Matter
Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration and strict border policies have dramatically reduced human smuggling at the border, cutting off the flow of cash that the cartels enjoyed for four years under Biden.
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced “15 consecutive months of zero releases at the border, continuing the unprecedented trend of historically low border crossings.” CBP also reported that daily apprehensions are down a staggering 94% when compared to those during the Biden administration.
“Again this month, the results are clear: President Trump’s border security agenda is restoring order and putting the safety of the American people first,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement. “DHS remains focused on enforcing our immigration laws, securing the border, and ensuring those who enter our country illegally are removed swiftly. Thanks to the strong leadership of President Trump, we have the most secure border in history.”
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