The U.S. murder rate is on track to be the lowest on record in 2025 as President Donald Trump’s administration has unleashed federal law enforcement agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to crack down on violent crime and illegal immigration.
FBI Director Kash Patel noted the drastic reduction in violent crime in an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience Podcast earlier this month. Patel said the lowest U.S. homicide rate occurred in 2014, with 4.4 murders per 100,000. Less than halfway through 2025, Patel said the U.S. is well on its way to better those numbers.
“I’m gonna let you, the agents, the police officers, the sheriffs, go out there and do the work you so badly want to do,” Patel told Rogan. “And I’m gonna give you the resources you need to do it. And I’m gonna take away the politicization and weaponization … and that’s what we’ve done.”
Crime research expert John R. Lott, Jr. argued in The Federalist that the Trump administration’s deportation of illegal immigrants convicted of crimes is also a factor.
“You let law enforcement catch criminals, making it riskier for criminals to commit crime, and you will get less crime,” Lott wrote. “But there is another reason. Deporting criminal illegals may cause some illegals to lay low so that they don’t risk getting caught.”
Lott noted that Patel has moved many FBI agents outside of Washington, D.C., to major cities where they can better collaborate with other agencies in fighting crime and help with detaining illegals.
According to the Department of Justice’s 2026 budget, the FBI’s strategy “has four priorities to drive the work and support the mission: Crush Violent Crime, Defend the Homeland, Rebuild Public Trust, and Fierce Organizational Accountability.”
Lott says the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration “could have a noticeable impact on crime rates” when it comes to criminal aliens and it’s already causing illegals to exit the labor market.
The number of foreign-born workers in the U.S. has gone down by over 1 million since March, while 139,000 new private sector jobs are going to American workers.
Lott concluded: “Reducing crime isn’t rocket science. If you make it riskier for criminals to commit crime, you will get less crime. Letting police focus on going after criminals matters. Getting serious about illegal aliens who are committing crimes can’t be ignored.”
