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How did the number of border apprehensions change from 2017 to 2021?
Executive summary
Apprehensions (the temporary detentions by U.S. Border Patrol) fell from a post‑2016 rise into 2020 and then surged sharply in fiscal year (FY) 2021 as overall CBP “encounters” reached a modern high: FY2021 saw 1,659,206 total Southwest border encounters, the largest annual total recorded, with encounters—and the share processed as Title 8 apprehensions versus Title 42 expulsions—changing markedly from 2017–2021 [1] [2]. Exact year‑by‑year apprehension totals are tracked by CBP’s encounter dashboards and enforcement statistics [3] [4].
1. What the data categories mean — why “apprehensions” can look different over time
Apprehensions in CBP reporting are defined as the physical control or temporary detainment of a person by U.S. Border Patrol between ports of entry; beginning in March 2020 CBP began publishing combined encounter counts that include both Title 8 apprehensions and Title 42 expulsions, which affects year‑to‑year comparability [3] [2]. That methodological shift means a simple comparison of “apprehensions” from 2017 straight through 2021 can be misleading unless you account for the inclusion of expulsions in encounter totals starting in FY2020 [2].
2. The broad trend 2017→2020: rise under Trump, then a COVID dip
Multiple analyses and CBP data show apprehensions and encounters rose after 2017 during the Trump years before COVID‑19 disrupted flows: annual apprehensions increased nearly 15% under President Trump until Title 42 expulsions began in March 2020, and FY2020 saw a sharp decline in many metrics because of pandemic‑era expulsions [5] [1]. The pandemic and Title 42 produced a large fall in apprehensions recorded as Title 8 detentions in FY2020, since many contacts were processed instead as expulsions [1].
3. The big jump in 2021: encounters and shifting processing
FY2021 marked a marked rebound: total Southwest border encounters rose to 1,659,206 — the highest number of border enforcement actions ever recorded — and CBP reported record monthly and quarterly highs during the fiscal year [1]. Analysts emphasize that part of the apparent increase reflects more people seeking out Border Patrol agents to request asylum (and thus being recorded as encounters) and the changing ratio of expulsions to apprehensions during that year [1] [6].
4. Why percent shares (expulsions vs apprehensions) matter
During the pandemic most encounters resulted in expulsion rather than detention; in 2020 that meant a large share of contacts were Title 42 expulsions rather than Title 8 apprehensions, which depressed the apparent number of “apprehensions” even when migration pressure remained high [1] [7]. By late 2021 the share expelled had fallen from earlier 2021 peaks (Pew noted expulsions fell from 74% in Feb 2021 to 54% in Sept 2021), which increased the proportion of encounters recorded as apprehensions [7].
5. Method and source caveats — what reporting does and does not tell us
CBP’s public dashboards and enforcement statistics provide the underlying counts and definitions, but beginning March FY2020 the data include both Title 8 Apprehensions and Title 42 Expulsions in encounter reporting; that change is explicitly noted on CBP pages and complicates raw year‑to‑year comparisons [3] [2]. Congressional and research reports caution that increases in apprehension counts do not straightforwardly map to unauthorized entries, because some migrants now present themselves to request asylum rather than attempt surreptitious crossings [1].
6. Competing interpretations in reporting and politics
Advocacy and oversight pieces draw different inferences: the Center for Migration Studies highlighted a near‑15% rise in annual apprehensions under Trump before Title 42 [5], while congressional committee materials frame post‑2020 encounters and certain nationality breakdowns as evidence of a border “crisis” since FY2021 [8]. Independent analysts and think tanks point to the administrative shift (Title 42 accounting) and changing migrant behavior (more people presenting to agents) as alternative explanations for rising FY2021 encounter counts [1] [6].
7. Bottom line for the question “How did the number change 2017→2021?”
Available CBP and analytical sources show apprehensions rose after 2017, fell sharply in FY2020 with the onset of COVID and Title 42 expulsions, then rebounded in FY2021 alongside a historic high in total encounters [5] [1]. Exact numeric comparisons require pulling the CBP annual tables or dashboards because encounter definitions changed in March FY2020 and FY2021 totals combine Title 8 and Title 42 figures in public reporting [3] [2].
If you want, I can extract the specific yearly apprehension counts from CBP’s enforcement statistics dashboard and produce a small table showing FY2017–FY2021 totals and the share recorded as Title 8 apprehensions versus Title 42 expulsions [3] [4].