Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
How many unlawful border encounters did U.S. Customs and Border Protection report in 2021 2022 2023 2024?
Executive summary
CBP’s public statistics count “encounters” (Title 8 apprehensions + OFO inadmissibles + Title 42 expulsions) and show very large totals across FY2021–FY2024: FY2021 saw sharply elevated monthly Southwest numbers (e.g., March–June 2021 months with ~100k–188k SWB encounters) and CBP’s FY2021 reporting summarizes those year totals (FY2021 runs Oct 2020–Sep 2021) [1] [2]. CBP and secondary analysts report FY2022 and FY2023 as still high (FY2023 nationwide and SWB totals topped into the millions, with CBP/analysts citing roughly 2.4–3.2 million nationwide or SWB totals for FY2023) and CBP reports FY2024 fell from FY2023 to about 2.1 million at the Southwest border for FY2024 [3] [4] [5].
1. What “encounters” means — the metric you’re asking about
CBP’s encounter count is a combined tally of U.S. Border Patrol Title‑8 apprehensions, Office of Field Operations Title‑8 inadmissibles (people denied at ports of entry), and Title‑42 expulsions (used during the COVID era), reported for Northern Land, Southwest Land and nationwide modes; CBP warns these numbers can include repeat crossings and are corrected over time [6] [7] [8].
2. FY2021 — elevated monthly flows and pandemic-era expulsions
Fiscal Year 2021 (Oct 1, 2020–Sep 30, 2021) saw rising monthly Southwest Border encounters — examples: February 2021 = ~100,441; April 2021 = ~178,622; May = 180,034; June = 188,829 — and CBP’s FY2021 enforcement summary documents continued operational pressure and large numbers of expulsions under Title 42 that make “encounters” larger than unique individuals [9] [10] [11] [2] [12].
3. FY2022 — large totals and “unique encounters” reporting
CBP’s FY2022 reporting continued to show large monthly and cumulative encounter counts; CBP’s monthly releases in 2022 cite nationwide monthly unique‑individual figures (for example, October 2022 nationwide unique = 196,479; December 2022 Southwest unique = 216,162) and the CBP FY22 nationwide encounters dashboard covers FY2020–FY2022 aggregations [13] [14] [15]. CBP cautions that Title 42 expulsions and multiple crossing attempts can cause “total encounters” to overstate the number of unique people encountered [13].
4. FY2023 — record highs and Congressional/analyst tallies
Multiple sources show FY2023 reached historic highs: CBP and outside trackers reported monthly surges late in calendar‑year 2022 into 2023 and Congress’ Republican Committee on Homeland Security cited FY23 figures such as “more than 2.4 million encounters at the Southwest border and more than 3.2 million nationwide” while CBP’s FY2023 materials and monthly updates document very large monthly Border Patrol encounter counts (examples: September 2023 Border Patrol between‑ports = 218,763; August 2023 Border Patrol between‑ports = 181,059) [16] [17] [4] [18]. Note: partisan congressional summaries interpret those same CBP totals as a crisis; CBP’s own monthly releases emphasize operational surges and responses [4] [16].
5. FY2024 — a significant decline but still large totals
CBP and independent analysts say FY2024 fell from FY2023 highs. Migration Policy Center and CBP reporting show FY2024 at the Southwest border ≈2.1 million encounters, a ~14% drop from FY2023’s ~2.5 million SWB encounters in their reporting; CBP’s monthly 2024 releases describe further declines after June 2024 operational measures and proclamations [5] [19]. Congressional fact sheets citing FY2024 totals frame the year differently (emphasizing cumulative totals since FY2021), so political sources and CBP emphasize different interpretations of the same underlying numbers [20].
6. Why single‑year point estimates can be misleading
CBP’s “encounters” mix different event types (inadmissible at ports, between‑ports apprehensions, and formerly Title‑42 expulsions), and the dataset includes repeat crossings by the same individuals; CBP expressly warns total encounters can overstate unique persons [6] [7] [13]. Analysts (e.g., USAFacts and Migration Policy Center) use CBP data to estimate trends and to isolate Border Patrol between‑ports counts or unique‑individual counts — so comparisons across years depend on which sub‑count (nationwide vs. SWB; total encounters vs. unique individuals vs. Border Patrol between‑ports) you choose [21] [5].
7. Bottom line and how to get the exact year totals you asked for
Available CBP pages and fiscal‑year dashboards provide the official yearly encounter tables for FY2021, FY2022, FY2023 and FY2024; CBP’s FY‑specific enforcement statistics pages and monthly operational updates cited above are the primary sources for the exact annual totals and the breakdowns you may want (nationwide vs Southwest vs Border Patrol between‑ports vs unique individuals) [1] [3] [18] [22]. If you want, I can extract CBP’s specific published annual totals (nationwide and Southwest border) for each fiscal year 2021–2024 from those CBP pages and present them side‑by‑side with notes on whether they are “total encounters,” “unique encounters,” or Border Patrol between‑ports counts (not found in current reporting — please confirm which exact CBP subtotal you prefer) [1] [3] [18] [8].