April Border Patrol Apprehensions Drop 84 Percent from Last Year

The apprehension of migrants along the southwestern border with Mexico during the month of April fell 84 percent from the same month in 2019. Agents apprehended a total of 15,862 migrants after they illegally crossed the border.

In April, Border Patrol agents apprehended 15,862 who illegally crossed the southwest border between ports of entry. Those included 734 unaccompanied minors, 604 family units, and 14,524 single adult migrants, according to the Southwest Border Migration Report released Thursday.

The number of apprehensions dropped significantly during each month of this fiscal year due to policies put in place by the Trump Administration and partner countries including Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras. From March to April, the numbers dropped even more significantly amid Coronavirus and related protocols.

In March, agents apprehended 30,002 including 2,938 unaccompanied minors, 3,369 family units, and 23,695 single adults. The April total apprehensions fell by 47 percent month to month.

The larges drops came in the apprehension of family migrants and unaccompanied minors. Trump administration officials put protocols in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that called for the return of nearly all migrants apprehended after illegally crossing the border to Mexico. The migrants are medically screened, have a criminal background check, and then those who are not flagged are immediately put back across the border into Mexico.

The apprehension of family units who illegally crossed the border fell by 82 percent from March to April and 98 percent from April 2019 to this year. Similarly, the apprehension of unaccompanied minors fell from March to April by 75 percent — 91 percent from April 2019.

The largest number of apprehensions of migrants continues to occur in the Rio Grande Valley Sector where agents apprehended 3,264 migrants who illegally crossed the border.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.