How many of the apprehended immigrants in 2024 were from countries other than Mexico?

1. What the official CBP tallies cover — and what they do not

CBP’s “encounters” and “apprehensions” metrics combine several distinct categories — U.S. Border Patrol Title 8 apprehensions, Office of Field Operations Title 8 inadmissibles, and Title 42 expulsions — and are reported for different geographies (southwest land border, northern land border, nationwide) ^{[4] [5]}. That means headline totals for “apprehended immigrants” mix people stopped at ports of entry, interdicted between ports, and those expelled under Title 42; the underlying nationality breakdowns are available in CBP tables but are summarized differently across CBP monthly releases ^{[4] [6]}.

2. How many in 2024 were from countries other than Mexico — what the sources say

Available reporting does not give a single, definitive national total phrased exactly as “how many apprehended immigrants in 2024 were from countries other than Mexico.” However, WOLA’s analysis states that during the first six months of fiscal 2024, 41% of migrants encountered at the U.S.–Mexico border — 549,270 people — came from countries farther away than Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean ^[1]. CBP’s monthly releases and summaries also emphasize that removals and encounters involved many nationalities and that FY2024 saw more removals to countries other than Mexico than in prior years ^{[2] [3]}.

3. Different ways analysts and officials frame “non‑Mexican” migrants

Advocates and analysts tend to highlight the growing share of “non‑regional” migrants (e.g., citizens of Africa, Asia, or more distant Latin American countries) because these cases pose distinct logistical and diplomatic challenges; WOLA specifically quantifies “countries farther away than Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean” and gives that 41% figure ^[1]. CBP and DHS reporting, by contrast, emphasizes operational totals, declines in southwest border apprehensions in 2024 compared with 2023, and large-scale removals to many countries — including the note that DHS completed roughly 700,000 removals and returns in FY2024 and removed more people to countries other than Mexico than in any prior fiscal year ^{[2] [3]}.

4. Why the share of non‑Mexican nationals matters politically and operationally

When a high share of encounters are non‑Mexican nationals, deportation becomes more complex: distant governments may be harder to coordinate with, removal flights are costlier, and some countries may refuse or delay accepting returnees (WOLA points to these operational pressures) ^[1]. Policymakers who prioritize border reduction point to steep month‑to‑month drops in 2024 and to cooperative measures with Mexico as evidence of progress ^{[7] [8]}. Opponents counter that irregular programs and parole pathways earlier in the decade altered flows and that enforcement statistics can be interpreted to support different policy prescriptions; congressional fact sheets from oversight committees stress concerns about diverse nationalities and program vulnerabilities ^[9].

5. The recent trend in 2024 — big declines, but diverse origins remain

Multiple CBP monthly updates in 2024 describe steep declines in Border Patrol encounters compared with 2023 (e.g., June’s 29% month‑to‑month decline and later statements that southwest border apprehensions were far lower than in 2023) and CBP framed this as the effect of a Presidential Proclamation and coordinated enforcement ^{[7] [2]}. Yet analysts such as WOLA and Pew note that even as total apprehensions fell, a notable portion of those who continued to be encountered were from distant countries, keeping the question of “non‑Mexican” numbers operationally important ^{[1] [10]}.

6. What’s missing or uncertain in current reporting

Available sources do not publish a single consolidated figure labeled exactly “total apprehended in 2024 who were from countries other than Mexico” across all CBP categories and geographies; instead, the record consists of monthly CBP breakdowns, fiscal‑year removal totals, and analytical slices ^{[4] [2] [3] [1]}. If you want a precise nationwide 2024 count excluding Mexico across all encounter categories, you would need to extract and sum CBP’s nationality tables for Title 8 apprehensions, OFO inadmissibles, and Title 42 expulsions for the full calendar or fiscal year — datasets referenced on CBP pages but not summarized in a single number in the documents provided here ^{[4] [6]}.

7. Bottom line and next step for a precise number

Based on available reporting, a substantial minority — and in some periods a plurality — of migrants encountered in 2024 were from countries other than Mexico (WOLA’s 41% figure for the first half of FY2024 is the clearest numeric statement available) ^[1]. To produce a single definitive total for the full year, consult CBP’s detailed nationality breakdowns on its “Nationwide Encounters” and enforcement statistics pages and sum the non‑Mexican entries across the encounter categories for the period you define (calendar 2024 or FY2024) ^{[4] [6]}.