For more than half a century, the number of immigrants apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol at the Southwest border has served as a rough proxy for illegal entries. However, this measure has become much less informative in recent years because it doesn’t account for other aspects of border insecurity that have exploded during the Biden/Harris administration. These include:
Read MoreTag: Southwest Border
Bill Introduced to Enhance Northern Border Security Measures
A congressman whose district lies along the northern border in upstate New York has filed a bill to strengthen northern border security measures.
Read MoreTerrorist Watch List Apprehensions at Northern Border Continue to Break Records
The number of known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) apprehended at the northern border in the first six months of fiscal 2024 continue to outpace those apprehended at the southwest border.
There have been 143 KSTs apprehended at the northern border through the first six months of this fiscal year compared to 92 at the southwest border, according to the most recent CBP data.
Read More525 Known, Suspected Terrorists Apprehended Attempting to Illegally Enter U.S. in Nine Months
Nine months into fiscal 2023, more known or suspected terrorists have been apprehended at the northern and southwest borders than in all of fiscal 2022.
So far this fiscal year, 525 known or suspected terrorists have been apprehended attempting to illegally enter the U.S. compared to 478 last fiscal year.
Read MoreBorder Patrol Agents: June Southwest Border Apprehension Data Is a ‘Shell Game’
Apprehension and gotaway data for June, which was significantly lower than previous months, is deceptive, a Customs and Border Patrol agent as well as the former acting CBP Chief and former Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan told The Center Square.
They spoke in response to lower numbers reported for the month by Border Patrol agents that total over 135,000, which is significantly lower than previous months even though large numbers of people are still coming through.
Read MorePreliminary Data: Nearly 245,000 Apprehensions, Gotaways at Southwest Border in March
Nearly 245,000 foreign nationals were apprehended or reported as gotaways after illegally entering the southwest border in March, according to preliminary data obtained by The Center Square.
“Gotaways” refers to those known and reported to illegally enter the U.S. primarily between ports of entry, who intentionally evade capture by law enforcement and don’t return to Mexico. In March, gotaways totaled at least 74,924, with the greatest numbers reported in the Tucson Sector of Arizona, followed by the El Paso Sector, which includes all of New Mexico and two west Texas counties.
Read MoreFiscal Year 2021 Becomes Third-Highest Year on Record in Border Encounters, Reaching 1.7 Million
Border officials encountered the third-highest number of migrants at the southern border on record, reaching more than 1.7 million apprehensions, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
Border officials reported 192,000 encounters with migrants attempting to illegally enter the U.S. through the southwest border in September, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data. A record high of more than 213,500 migrants were apprehended in July and another 209,800 were encountered in August.
“CBP encounters along the Southwest border declined in September from the prior month, and a majority of noncitizens encountered were expelled under Title 42,” Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said in a statement. “The men and women of CBP continued to rise admirably to the challenge, despite the strain associated with operating during a global pandemic that has claimed far too many lives among our frontline personnel.”
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