How many migrant encounters were recorded at the US border each year of the Biden administration (2021–2025)?
Executive summary
CBP encounter data show extremely high annual totals in early Biden years and a sharp decline by 2024–2025: CBP reported about 1.66 million Border Patrol encounters at the U.S.-Mexico (southwest) border in FY2021 (the first fiscal year overlapping Biden’s term) and CBP-wide encounters reached roughly 2.1 million in FY2024 before falling into the hundreds of thousands by FY2025 according to reporting [1] [2]. Sources document both large totals and rapid declines and emphasize different measures (Border Patrol-only vs. all-CBP encounters, and fiscal-year vs. calendar counts) so annual comparisons require care [3] [1] [2].
1. What “encounters” means — the key definitional caveat
CBP’s “encounters” aggregates multiple event types: U.S. Border Patrol Title 8 apprehensions, Office of Field Operations Title 8 inadmissibles, and Title 42 expulsions when in effect; it counts events, not unique people, and can include multiple contacts with the same individual [3] [4]. Migration analysts often report Border Patrol-only encounters between ports of entry; others use nationwide CBP encounter totals that add ports-of-entry encounters and other modes — the choice matters for year-to-year totals [3] [1].
2. FY2021: the initial surge recorded early in Biden’s term
CBP’s Border Patrol reported more than 1.6 million encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2021, a post-1980s high and a sharp rebound from 2020; this figure is used in multiple analyses as the baseline for Biden-era peaks [1]. That total refers specifically to Border Patrol encounters between ports of entry rather than the broader nationwide CBP aggregate [1] [3].
3. FY2022–FY2023: persistence of high volumes and monthly peaks
Reporting and agency dashboards show continued high encounter levels through FY2022 and into FY2023, with monthly spikes that in December 2023 reached record monthly Border Patrol figures (about 250,000 encounters that month), driving large annual totals reported for 2023 and 2024 in different datasets [5] [1]. Analysts note that Title 42 and other policy choices influenced repeat attempts and the composition of encounters [5].
4. FY2024: peak CBP-wide counts cited by analysts and watchdogs
Some sources describe FY2024 as a year with nationwide CBP encounter totals around 2.1 million (reported for the year prior to FY2025), reflecting high activity across Border Patrol and ports of entry — a figure cited in migration-policy analyses comparing FY2024 to FY2025 [2]. Congressional and committee materials also report cumulative totals “since FY2021” exceeding 10 million nationwide encounters, illustrating the scale across multiple years [6].
5. FY2025: a dramatic decline in reported encounters
Multiple sources document a steep fall in encounters in FY2025: one migration-policy piece cites CBP recording approximately 444,000 migrant encounters at and between ports of entry in FY2025, down from roughly 2.1 million the prior year [2]. Government communications and press releases also highlight record-low monthly and nationwide encounter figures in 2025, though those statements are framed as policy successes [7] [8]. These FY2025 figures reflect both a real drop in encounters and changes in enforcement and diplomatic actions cited by analysts [5] [2].
6. Why numbers differ across reports — methodology and politics
Differences in annual totals across sources stem from whether reporting uses: (a) Border Patrol encounters only vs. CBP-wide nationwide encounters; (b) fiscal year (Oct–Sep) vs. calendar-year measures; and (c) inclusion/exclusion of Title 42 expulsions when applicable [3] [4] [1]. Political actors selectively emphasize these metrics: congressional fact sheets highlight cumulative large totals to argue for a crisis [6]; DHS and administration communications highlight 2025 lows to claim improved control [7] [8]. Both framings rely on CBP data but select different subsets and time spans [3] [7] [6].
7. What the sources do not resolve
Available sources document encounter totals and major year-to-year shifts but do not provide a single, consistently tabulated table listing "each year 2021–2025" in one place for all encounter types combined; the reporting separates Border Patrol vs. nationwide CBP totals and uses fiscal-year framing variably [3] [1] [2]. Precise year-by-year tallies for 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025 across a single standardized definition are not presented in the provided snippets — compiling those requires downloading CBP’s Nationwide Encounters dataset or sector-level tables [3].
8. Bottom line for readers
The Biden-era border picture is: very high encounter volumes in FY2021–FY2023 (Border Patrol reported ~1.66 million in FY2021), a peak period around late 2023–2024 with nationwide CBP totals often characterized as ~2.1 million, and a sharp drop in FY2025 to the hundreds of thousands in several reports [1] [2]. Which annual number you cite depends on the CBP subcomponent and fiscal framing you choose — and political sources will select the framing that supports their policy message [3] [7] [6].