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How has the number of border crossings changed since Biden took office in 2021?
Executive Summary
Since President Biden took office in January 2021 the available analyses claim a large cumulative rise in encounters early in his term followed by a notable fall by 2025, with roughly 10–11 million total encounters recorded nationwide over his first four years but annual apprehensions falling to historic lows by FY2025. Discrepancies stem from differing metrics (encounters vs. unique migrants, Title 8 vs. Title 42), shifting policies (Title 42 expulsions ended in May 2023), and partisan sources emphasizing different slices of the data [1] [2] [3].
1. Big Numbers, Big Differences: What advocates and committees are highlighting
House Committee and allied fact-sheets emphasize a dramatic surge in total encounters since FY2021, putting the cumulative count above 10.8 million and the Southwest border share above 8.7 million, contrasting sharply with the roughly 3 million encounters recorded from FY2017–2020. That framing stresses a multi-million increase and flags national security concerns—citing detained individuals on terrorist watchlists and new patterns at the northern border—while highlighting mass parole releases through CHNV and CBP One exceeding 1.4 million; the factsheet uses these totals to argue that screening and vetting processes were strained during the period [1]. Those totals are accurate as presented for “encounters,” but they do not equate to permanent entries, and they combine different operational categories that can inflate cumulative counts.
2. Official CBP tallies: year-to-year shifts and the role of classification
CBP-derived enforcement statistics show yearly fluctuation: FY2021 recorded about 1.96 million encounters, FY2022 rose to roughly 2.77 million, FY2023 climbed to about 3.20 million, then FY2024 fell to about 2.90 million. Southwest Land Border counts move differently when broken out by fiscal year: increases in some years and declines in others. These official tallies combine Title 8 apprehensions, Title 42 expulsions (in effect through May 2023), and Office of Field Operations inadmissibles, so year-over-year changes are driven as much by policy and classification shifts—including the end of Title 42—as by changes in migrant flows [2] [4]. This nuance matters: encounters include repeated attempts by the same person and administrative actions that do not equal final migration status.
3. The midterm to late-term reversal: record highs then steep declines
Contemporary reporting and CBP monthly data show a pattern of record-high encounters in 2022 followed by steep declines into 2024–2025. The peak year often cited is FY2022 (roughly 2.2–2.8 million depending on metric), after which policy actions—including executive orders, operational measures and bilateral cooperation with Mexico—coincided with falling monthly encounters. By fiscal year 2025 reporting, Border Patrol apprehensions were reported at approximately 238,000 for the year, described as the lowest annual level since 1970. These later figures are used to argue that enforcement and diplomatic measures produced a marked reduction, though analysts debate the drivers and humanitarian implications [5] [3] [6]. The drop is substantial by annual apprehensions, but the cumulative four-year encounter total remains high.
4. Northern border, parole programs and the counting problem
Several briefings emphasize large proportional increases at the northern border since FY2021—claims of 600% increases are highlighted—alongside a surge in Mexican nationals encountered there. Parallel reporting underscores that parole programs such as CHNV and CBP One released over 1.4 million inadmissible aliens into the interior, which changes the arithmetic of “how many are in the country” versus “how many were encountered.” The interaction of parole authority, asylum rules, and capacity constraints produced administrative releases that show up in encounter tallies differently than formal adjudications. Counting differences—encounters versus sustained entries—are central to reconciling apparently contradictory claims about rising cumulative totals and falling annual apprehensions [1].
5. How to reconcile the viewpoints: metrics, timing and policy effects
The authoritative reconciliation is that both claims can be true: Biden-era CBP logged roughly 10–11 million cumulative encounters across 2021–2024, reflecting an early surge and high repeated crossings, while annual Border Patrol apprehensions fell sharply by FY2025 to historic lows. Discrepancies come from different emphases—House fact-sheets point to cumulative national security implications and parole releases [1], CBP fiscal tables show year-to-year variation driven by Title 42 and other classifications [2] [4], and media reporting links policy changes to later declines [5] [6]. The practical takeaway is that headline summaries require attention to metric definitions and time windows before they can support policy conclusions.