The U.S. Border Patrol had nearly 250,000 encounters with migrants crossing into the United States from Mexico in December 2023, according to government statistics. This was the highest monthly total on record, surpassing the previous peak of about 224,000 encounters in May 2022.
The monthly number of encounters has soared since 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic temporarily forced the U.S.-Mexico border to close and slowed migration across much of the world. In April 2020, the Border Patrol recorded around 16,000 encounters – among the lowest monthly totals in decades.
This Pew Research Center analysis examines migration patterns at the U.S.-Mexico border using current and historical data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency that includes the U.S. Border Patrol. The analysis is based on a metric known as migrant encounters.
The term “encounters” refers to two distinct types of events:
Apprehensions: Migrants are taken into custody in the United States, at least temporarily, to await a decision on whether they can remain in the country legally, such as by being granted asylum. Apprehensions are carried out under Title 8 of the U.S. code, which deals with immigration law.
Expulsions: Migrants are immediately expelled to their home country or last country of transit without being held in U.S. custody. Expulsions are carried out under Title 42 of the U.S. code, a previously rarely used section of the law that the Trump administration invoked during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The law empowers federal health authorities to stop migrants from entering the country if it is determined that barring them could prevent the spread of contagious diseases. The Biden administration stopped the use of Title 42 in May 2023, when the federal government declared an end to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
It is important to note that encounters refer to events, not people, and that some migrants are encountered more than once. As a result, the overall number of encounters may overstate the number of distinct individuals involved.
This analysis is limited to monthly encounters between ports of entry involving the Border Patrol. It excludes encounters at ports of entry involving the Office of Field Operations.
Since then, the monthly number of migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border has surpassed 200,000 on 10 separate occasions. That threshold previously hadn’t been reached since March 2000, when there were about 220,000 encounters.
It’s not clear whether the recent high numbers of encounters at the border will persist in 2024. In January, encounters fell to around 124,000, according to the latest available statistics.
The term “encounters” refers to two distinct types of events:
Apprehensions: Migrants are taken into custody in the U.S., at least temporarily, to await a decision on whether they can remain in the country legally, such as by being granted asylum. Apprehensions are carried out under Title 8 of the U.S. code, which deals with immigration law.
Expulsions: Migrants are immediately expelled to their home country or last country of transit without being held in U.S. custody. Expulsions are carried out under Title 42 of the U.S. code, a previously rarely used section of the law that the Trump administration invoked during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The law empowers federal health authorities to stop migrants from entering the country if it is determined that barring them could prevent the spread of contagious diseases. In the early months of the pandemic in the U.S., the Border Patrol relied heavily on Title 42 to expel most of the migrants it encountered at the border. The Biden administration stopped the use of Title 42 in May 2023, when the federal government declared an end to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Since then, the Border Patrol has been apprehending migrants within the U.S. instead of expelling them from the country.
In December 2023, most encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border (54%) involved migrants traveling as single adults, while 41% involved people traveling in families and 5% involved unaccompanied minors.
In recent months, a growing number of encounters have involved people traveling in families. In December 2023, the Border Patrol had nearly 102,000 encounters with family members, up from around 61,000 a year earlier.
There has also been a shift in migrants’ origin countries. Historically, most encounters at the southwestern border have involved citizens of Mexico or the Northern Triangle nations of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. But in December 2023, 54% of encounters involved citizens of countries other than these four nations.
Venezuelans, in particular, stand out. Nearly 47,000 migrant encounters in December 2023 involved citizens of Venezuela, up from about 6,000 a year earlier. The number of encounters involving Venezuelans was second only to the approximately 56,000 involving Mexicans in December 2023.
There has also been a sharp increase in encounters with citizens of China, despite its distance from the U.S.-Mexico border. The Border Patrol reported nearly 6,000 encounters with Chinese citizens at the southwestern border in December 2023, up from around 900 a year earlier.
The American public is broadly dissatisfied with how things are going at the border, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
Eight-in-ten U.S. adults say the government is doing a very or somewhat bad job dealing with the large number of migrants seeking to enter the U.S. at the border with Mexico. And nearly as many say the situation is either a “crisis” (45%) or a “major problem” (32%) for the U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Arrests for illegal border crossings from Mexico reached an all-time high in December since monthly numbers have been released, authorities said Friday, exposing a growing vulnerability for President Joe Biden in his campaign for a second term. The Border Patrol tallied 249,785 arrests on the Mexican border in December, up 31% from 191,112 in November and up 13% from 222,018 in December 2022, the previous all-time high. Arrests fell more than half during the first two weeks of January, “consistent with historical trends and enhanced enforcement,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement. CBP previously said a crackdown by Mexican authorities contributed to the January decline. Mexicans accounted for 56,236 arrests in December, while Venezuelans were second with 46,937, erasing much of the decline that followed the start of deportation flights to Venezuela in October. Arrests of Guatemalans surged, with Hondurans and Colombians rounding out the top five nationalities.
Tucson, Arizona, was again the busiest corridor for illegal crossings among nine sectors on the Mexican border, with 80,185 arrests. Del Rio, Texas, the focus of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s enforcement efforts, was second with 71,095 arrests. San Diego, where nearly 6,000 Chinese were arrested, was a distant third.
When including migrants who were allowed to enter the United States under new or expanded legal pathways, migrant encounters totaled 302,034, topping 300,000 for the first time and shattering the previous high of 269,735 in September. U.S. authorities admitted 45,770 people at land crossings with Mexico in December through an online appointment system called CBP One, bringing the total to more than 413,000 since it was introduced a year ago. The administration’s broad use of parole authority to allow migrants in the country has been a major sticking point in Senate negotiations over border security.
The U.S. Border Patrol had nearly 250,000 encounters with migrants crossing into the United States from Mexico in December 2023, according to government statistics. That was the highest monthly total on record, easily eclipsing the previous peak of about 224,000 encounters in May 2022.
The monthly number of encounters has soared since 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic temporarily forced the U.S.-Mexico border to close and slowed migration across much of the world. In April 2020, the Border Patrol recorded around 16,000 encounters – among the lowest monthly totals in decades.
This Pew Research Center analysis examines migration patterns at the U.S.-Mexico border using current and historical data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency that includes the U.S. Border Patrol. The analysis is based on a metric known as migrant encounters.
The term “encounters” refers to two distinct types of events:
Apprehensions: Migrants are taken into custody in the United States, at least temporarily, to await a decision on whether they can remain in the country legally, such as by being granted asylum. Apprehensions are carried out under Title 8 of the U.S. code, which deals with immigration law.
Expulsions: Migrants are immediately expelled to their home country or last country of transit without being held in U.S. custody. Expulsions are carried out under Title 42 of the U.S. code, a previously rarely used section of the law that the Trump administration invoked during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The law empowers federal health authorities to stop migrants from entering the country if it is determined that barring them could prevent the spread of contagious diseases. The Biden administration stopped the use of Title 42 in May 2023, when the federal government declared an end to the COVID-19 public health emergency.
It is important to note that encounters refer to events, not people, and that some migrants are encountered more than once. As a result, the overall number of encounters may overstate the number of distinct individuals involved.
This analysis is limited to monthly encounters between ports of entry involving the Border Patrol. It excludes encounters at ports of entry involving the Office of Field Operations.
Since then, the monthly number of migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border has surpassed 200,000 on 10 separate occasions. That threshold previously hadn’t been reached since March 2000, when there were about 220,000 encounters.
It’s not clear whether the recent high numbers of encounters at the border will persist in 2024. In January, encounters fell to around 124,000, according to the latest available statistics.
The term “encounters” refers to two distinct types of events:
Apprehensions: Migrants are taken into custody in the U.S., at least temporarily, to await a decision on whether they can remain in the country legally, such as by being granted asylum. Apprehensions are carried out under Title 8 of the U.S. code, which deals with immigration law.
Expulsions: Migrants are immediately expelled to their home country or last country of transit without being held in U.S. custody. Expulsions are carried out under Title 42 of the U.S. code, a previously rarely used section of the law that the Trump administration invoked during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The law empowers federal health authorities to stop migrants from entering the country if it is determined that barring them could prevent the spread of contagious diseases. In the early months of the pandemic in the U.S., the Border Patrol relied heavily on Title 42 to expel most of the migrants it encountered at the border. The Biden administration stopped the use of Title 42 in May 2023, when the federal government declared an end to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Since then, the Border Patrol has been apprehending migrants within the U.S. instead of expelling them from the country.
In December 2023, most encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border (54%) involved migrants traveling as single adults, while 41% involved people traveling in families and 5% involved unaccompanied minors.
In recent months, a growing number of encounters have involved people traveling in families. In December 2023, the Border Patrol had nearly 102,000 encounters with family members, up from around 61,000 a year earlier.
There has also been a shift in migrants’ origin countries. Historically, most encounters at the southwestern border have involved citizens of Mexico or the Northern Triangle nations of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. But in December 2023, 54% of encounters involved citizens of countries other than these four nations.
Venezuelans, in particular, stand out. Nearly 47,000 migrant encounters in December 2023 involved citizens of Venezuela, up from about 6,000 a year earlier. The number of encounters involving Venezuelans was second only to the approximately 56,000 involving Mexicans in December 2023.
There has also been a sharp increase in encounters with citizens of China, despite its distance from the U.S.-Mexico border. The Border Patrol reported nearly 6,000 encounters with Chinese citizens at the southwestern border in December 2023, up from around 900 a year earlier.
The American public is broadly dissatisfied with how things are going at the border, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
Eight-in-ten U.S. adults say the government is doing a very or somewhat bad job dealing with the large number of migrants seeking to enter the U.S. at the border with Mexico. And nearly as many say the situation is either a “crisis” (45%) or a “major problem” (32%) for the U.S.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Arrests for illegal crossings on the U.S. border with Mexico fell by half in January from record highs in December to the third lowest month of Joe Biden’s presidency, authorities said Tuesday. The sharp drop is welcome news for the White House, even if it proves temporary, as immigration becomes one of the biggest issues in this year’s presidential election, with exit polls showing it is the top concern among many Republican voters in early primaries. House Republicans voted Tuesday to impeach U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for his oversight of the border. Seasonal declines and heightened enforcement by the U.S. and its allies led to the sharp decline, said Troy Miller, acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. U.S. authorities have repeatedly praised Mexico for a crackdown launched in late December.
Border Patrol arrests totaled 124,220 in January, down 50% from 249,735 in December, the highest monthly tally on record. Arrests of Venezuelans plunged 91% to 4,422 from 46,920 in December. Numbers ebb and flow, and the January decline may prove tenuous. Panama reported that 36,001 migrants traversed the notorious Darien Gap in January, up 46% from December. The vast majority who cross the Panamanian jungle are Venezuelans headed to the United States, with considerable numbers from Haiti, China, Ecuador, and Colombia.
“We continue to experience serious challenges along our border which surpass the capacity of the immigration system,” Miller said.
Tucson, Arizona, was again the busiest sector for illegal crossings with 50,565 arrests, down 37% from December, followed by San Diego. Arrests in the Border Patrol’s Del Rio sector, which includes the city of Eagle Pass, the main focus of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s border enforcement efforts, plummeted 76% from December to 16,712, the lowest since December 2021. Arrests in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley, dropped 60% to 7,340, the lowest since July 2020.
The only months of Biden’s presidency with fewer border arrests were in June 2023, after pandemic-related asylum restrictions lifted, and February 2021, his first full month in office. During an interview with The Associated Press in January, Mayorkas said that Mexico’s immigration enforcement agency didn’t have the funds in December to carry out enforcement actions but when that was rectified, there was an immediate and substantial drop in the number of migrants encountered at the southern border. When including migrants who were allowed to enter the United States under new or expanded legal pathways, migrant encounters totaled 176,205 in January after topping 300,000 for the first time in December. U.S. authorities admitted about 45,000 people at land crossings with Mexico in January through an online appointment system called CBP One, bringing the total to 459,118 since it was introduced a year earlier.
Source: Pew Research Center, Associated Press
