485K Migrants Apprehended this Year in Texas-Based Border Sectors

Border Patrol agents assigned to the five Texas-based border sectors apprehended nearly 485,000 migrants who crossed the border from Mexico into this border region since October 1, 2022. This represents nearly 64 percent of all migrant crossings along the southwest border with Mexico.

Agents assigned to the El Paso, Big Bend, Del Rio, Laredo, and Rio Grande Valley sectors apprehended 484,527 migrants who crossed from Mexico during the first four months of Fiscal Year 23. This is up from the same period in FY22 when agents encountered 400,219 migrants — an increase of 21 percent.

While the Texas-based border sectors experienced this significant increase in apprehensions, three of the five sectors actually reported significant decreases in apprehensions. The two remaining sectors made up from these decreases however and reported very consequential increases.

The El Paso Sector reported the largest increase, both in the number of apprehensions and the percentage of increases. El Paso agents apprehended 192,329 migrants in four months. This is up by a massive 187 percent from the same period last year when agents apprehended only 67,048 — an increase of 125,281 migrant apprehensions.

The Del Rio Sector also reported a significant increase in apprehensions as agents took 171,017 migrants into custody after they crossed from Mexico during the four-month period. This is up from the 122,853 migrants apprehended during the same period last year — an increase of 39.2 percent.

The Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, and Big Bend Sector all reported decreases in apprehensions ranging from 41 to 60 percent. The most significant decrease in terms of the number of apprehensions came in the Rio Grande Valley Sector where agents apprehended 167,461 last year but only 99,172 this year — a 40.8 percent decrease.

Single adults made up the largest demographic component of the migrants apprehended in the Texas-based border sectors. Officials reported this component accounted for 337,032 of the 484,5527 migrant apprehensions. This represents an increase of 29.4 percent, the report states.

Family unit apprehensions also increased slightly as agents apprehended 112,480 migrants in this demographic category. This represents an increase of nine percent.

The unaccompanied migrant children category is the only demographic that fell in the number of apprehensions. Agents apprehended 35,015 migrant children traveling without a parent or guardian — down by 4.2 percent.