Two Million Migrants Apprehended at Southwest Border for 2nd Straight Year

Border Patrol agents assigned to the nine southwest border sectors apprehended more than two million migrants for the second consecutive year. September’s apprehension of approximately 218,000 migrants pushed the Fiscal Year 23 report to just over two million migrants, according to unofficial Border Patrol reports reviewed by Breitbart Texas.

Since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 5.7 million migrants who illegally crossed the southwest border between ports of entry, the reports indicate.

In September, the last month of the fiscal year, Border Patrol agents apprehended just over 218,000 migrants, unofficial reports revealed. This brought the total for the year to approximately 2,045,000 migrant apprehensions. In addition, Border Patrol officials classified an additional 664,000 migrants as known got-aways.

In contrast, during President Donald Trump’s last full fiscal year in office, agents apprehended only 400,651. During the last two months alone, agents apprehended 399,000 migrants.

The two million migrant apprehensions do not include migrants who entered the country through the CBP One app and other immigration blanket parole programs not authorized by Congress. Official U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports that include these numbers are not expected to be released until the end of October.

Following the end of Title 42 on May 11, the Biden administration relished in a brief decline in migrant apprehensions along the border. In June, agents apprehended 99,543 migrants. During that time, migrants and human smuggling cartels re-evaluated the Biden border security and immigration plans, pushing another surge of migrants to the border. Since the low point in June, apprehensions jumped approximately 119 percent to September’s 218,000.

Migrant apprehensions exceeded 200,000 per month in four months during the fiscal year. Two additional months exceeded 180,000.

Despite the recent surge in the Tucson and Del Rio Sectors, the El Paso Sector finished the year in first place with the apprehension of more than 426,000 migrants. Del Rio finished the year in second place with the arrest of nearly 400,000 migrants. The Tucson, Rio Grande Valley, and San Diego Sectors rounded out the top five with 374,000, 338,000, and 230,000 respectively.

In September, Tucson Sector agents apprehended more than 51,000 migrants. Del Rio finished second with nearly 48,000 apprehensions. The Rio Grande Valley Sector finished in third with more than 45,000 apprehensions.

In the five Texas-based Border Patrol sectors, agents apprehended nearly 134,000 of the 218,000 September apprehensions (61 percent). This brought the FY23 total for the Texas-based sectors to more than 1.2 million of the 2.045 million apprehensions (60 percent).

Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol.  Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.