Tucson Sector Apprehends Record 16K Migrant Families in 2019

Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended a record 16,199 migrant family members during Fiscal Year 2019. This represented an increase of 227 percent over the previous year’s total.

During Fiscal Year 2019, which ended on September 30, Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents set a new record in the apprehension of migrant families. The agents apprehended 16,199 Family Unit Aliens, according to information obtained from Tucson Sector Border Patrol officials. This represents an increase of 227 percent over the previous year’s total of 4,954 FMUAs.

Additionally, agents apprehended 5,105 unaccompanied children. Officials reported the children ranged in age from infant to 17-years-old. The apprehension of Unaccompanied Alien Children jumped two percent from the previous year’s total of 5,023.

Single adult men seeking to avoid apprehension continued to be the largest migrant demographic faced by Tucson Sector agents. The Tucson Sector reported the arrest of 42,186 single adult men. This accounts for 66 percent of all migrant apprehensions in the sector, officials reported.

“Human smugglers continue to put migrants’ lives in danger by abandoning them in the desert,” Tucson Sector officials said in a written statement. “Tucson Sector saved the lives of 924 people from vast desert and wilderness areas, many of whom called 911.”

This accounts for nearly 20 percent of all migrant rescues conducted along the southwest border with Mexico.

In addition to the migrants, Tucson Sector agents also seized large quantities of drugs at inland immigration checkpoints and other locations. The agents seized 2,700 pounds of methamphetamine, 150 pounds of heroin, 13 pounds of fentanyl, and 59,000 pounds of marijuana. Officials report the marijuana seizures were down by 50 percent — a trend noted in all other southwest border sectors.

“Supplemental funding, cooperation with the Government of Mexico, and new agreements made with Central American countries are credited with a decrease in illegal entries along the Southwest border since May 2019,” sector officials reported. “Officials are counting on new border infrastructure to further prevent human smuggling and drug trafficking.”

Officials cited the construction of new border wall segments near Lukeville, Arizona. This is the region where the largest numbers of migrant family units crossed illegally from Mexico. Other segments are being constructed near Douglas, Arizona, officials stated.