What are the official statistics for encounters at the U.S. southern border under Biden?
Executive summary
Official U.S. border “encounters” are tracked and published by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and include Border Patrol Title 8 apprehensions, Office of Field Operations inadmissibles at ports of entry, and Title 42 expulsions when in effect (CBP’s definition) [1]. CBP’s monthly dashboards show large swings: under the Biden administration encounters reached six-figure monthly highs (e.g., Dec 2023 ~250,000 reported by AP citing CBP) but later fell sharply after policy actions in 2024–25, with monthly Southwest Border apprehensions reported as low as ~7,181 in March 2025 and nationwide encounters hitting record lows in mid‑2025 per DHS/CBP releases [2] [3] [4].
1. What “encounters” officially mean — and why the number can be confusing
CBP’s published “encounters” combine different actions: USBP Title 8 apprehensions (between ports of entry), Office of Field Operations inadmissibles (at ports of entry), and Title 42 expulsions when applied; the agency’s dashboards explain these categories and note data are subject to revision [1] [5]. Several independent outlets and fact‑checkers emphasize the potential for misleading comparisons because short‑term averages, different time windows, and multiple encounter types are often mixed when politicians cite a single number [6].
2. The Biden years: scale and peaks the official data record
CBP data and oversight reports show large cumulative encounter totals during the Biden presidency: congressional and watchdog materials cited millions of encounters since FY2021, and CBP’s own lifecycle reporting and DHS yearbooks were used to compile those figures [7] [8]. Republicans in Congress and conservative groups used CBP counts to highlight what they call historic surges (for example, claims of millions of encounters and large numbers of releases), and FactCheck.org and others noted that aspects of those release figures were sensitive to definitions and processing stages [7] [9].
3. The policy changes and the rapid decline in encounters after mid‑2024
DHS and CBP say a June 4, 2024 presidential proclamation and related DHS‑DOJ rule substantially reduced encounters at ports of entry and between ports of entry; DHS reported more than a 60% decrease in encounters between May and December 2024 at ports of entry and further declines into 2025 [10]. Independent reporting and fact checks found that the downward trend in crossings began before some later policy moves but that the June 2024 measures appear to have accelerated declines [6] [8].
4. Official monthly examples cited by agencies and press
CBP’s monthly releases give specific figures: CBP reported 7,181 U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions on the Southwest border in March 2025 (a 95% decline from March 2024’s 137,473 reported that month) and 8,725 encounters in May 2025; DHS/CBP later declared record‑low nationwide encounters in mid‑2025 with USBP apprehensions as low as 8,039 nationwide in June 2025 [3] [11] [4]. AP’s reporting cited 47,300 illegal border crossings in December 2024 as approaching the lowest level since July 2020 [2].
5. How political actors use the official stats — competing narratives
The Biden administration and DHS framed fall‑2024 through early‑2025 declines as evidence their policies and international cooperation worked to reduce irregular migration [10]. Opponents and later the Trump administration framed the same or later low numbers as proof of their tougher enforcement restoring control, repeatedly citing CBP’s monthly lows and using short windows to compare “last seven days” averages across presidencies [12] [13]. Fact‑checking outlets warn that short windows and differing definitions produce misleading percentage claims and that longer‑run trends are necessary to evaluate policy impact [6].
6. Limitations and what the official sources do not fully answer
CBP notes its data are extracted from live systems and “subject to change” and that final statistics are available only after fiscal‑year close; CBP also separates encounter categories, but many public statements aggregate them, obscuring composition [5] [1]. Available sources do not mention detailed, independently verified counts of “gotaways” (undetected entrants) in these specific monthly releases, nor do they resolve attribution entirely between policy effects, seasonal migration patterns, or external factors [5] [6].
7. How to read the numbers responsibly
Use CBP’s dashboards and monthly updates as primary sources for exact counts and definitions [1] [5]. Treat short‑term comparisons (seven‑day averages or single months) with caution; consult longer fiscal‑year totals and independent analyses referenced by DHS/OHSS or fact‑checkers to judge trends and causal claims [6] [8]. When politicians cite dramatic percentage drops or releases versus removals, crosscheck the underlying CBP monthly release or DHS fact sheet cited to see which encounter categories and timeframes are being compared [11] [10].
Sources cited above are CBP and DHS monthly releases and dashboards, AP and fact‑checking coverage, and related congressional and policy documents [1] [5] [3] [11] [4] [2] [6] [10] [7].