U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) apprehended a total of 414,397 illegal immigrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border at and between ports of entry in FY 2013, a fourteen percent increase from the previous year.
About 57 percent (235,567) of all 2013 southwest border apprehensions occurred in Texas. That means that an estimated six out of every ten illegal immigrants arrested along the U.S.-Mexico border in 2013 were apprehended in Texas, the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed in a press release last Friday announcing the agency’s FY 2013 apprehensions.
Included in the 2013 southwest border arrest figure are 102,607 “inadmissible aliens” that Border Patrol agents prevented from entering the country. Those illegal immigrants were deemed inadmissible on grounds that include “immigration violations, criminal and national security-related reasons,” CBP explained.
Inadmissible illegals made up roughly one quarter of all Border Patrol arrests along the southwest border last year.
CBP also noted that apprehensions of other-than-Mexican illegal aliens increased by 55 percent in 2013.
“While Border Patrol apprehensions of Mexicans in FY 2013 remained largely unchanged from FY2012, apprehensions of individuals from countries other than Mexico, predominately individuals from Central America, increased by 55 percent,” noted CBP in its apprehensions announcement.
At ports of entry in 2013, Border Patrol agents caught 7,976 illegal aliens “wanted for serious crimes, including murder, rape, assault and robbery,” according to CBP. The agency did not break down those figures by southwest, Northern, and Coastal border areas.
However, based on historical USBP border enforcement statistics, illegal cross-border activity is generally concentrated along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Also in 2013, agents “stopped more than 132,000 inadmissible aliens from entering the U.S. through ports of entry.”
Of the inadmissible aliens apprehended in 2013, 102,607, or about 78 percent, were arrested along the southwest border. Almost half of inadmissible immigrants arrested along the U.S.-Mexico border were caught in Texas.
Overall, most of the 2013 southwest border arrests, including the apprehension of 49,789 inadmissible aliens, were made in Texas. More than half (1,254 miles) of the estimated 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border lies in Texas.
USBP apprehensions in Arizona, at 125,942, accounted for an estimated 30 percent of all southwest border arrests, followed by California with 44,905 (about eleven percent) and New Mexico with 7,983 (two percent).
Border Patrol agents in California saw the highest percentage of inadmissible aliens arrested in 2013. Of the 44,905 illegal immigrants apprehended in California, 41,983, or 93 percent, were deemed inadmissible.
Nationwide, U.S. Border Patrol, a component of CBP, apprehended 420,789 illegal immigrants in FY 2013, an estimated thirteen percent increase from the 364,768 arrested in FY 2012.
The nationwide apprehension figure includes arrests made at and between ports of entry along the southwest, northern, and coastal borders in the U.S.
About 98 percent of all 2013 Border Patrol apprehensions occurred along the U.S.-Mexico border.
CBP seized upwards of 4.3 million pounds of narcotics across the U.S. last year including 2.9 million along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Most (1.3 million pounds) southwest border drug seizures occurred in Arizona, closely trailed by Texas (1.2 million pounds).
Furthermore, “the agency seized more than $106 million in unreported currency through targeted enforcement operations” nationwide, including $41.3 million along the U.S.-Mexico border alone.
“CBP continues to deploy proven, effective surveillance technology tailored to operational requirements along the highest trafficked areas of the Southwest Border,” stated the agency. “CBP’s air assets, including the Unmanned Aircraft Systems and P-3 programs, flew more than 61,000 hours in enforcement missions combined in FY 2013. Air and Marine operations contributed to the seizure of more than 1.1 million pounds of narcotics and the apprehension of 629 individuals involved in illicit activities.”
Moreover, the agency also revealed that “CBP agriculture specialists conducted approximately 1.6 million interceptions of prohibited plant materials, meat, and animal byproducts at ports of entry while also stopping more than 160,000 potentially dangerous pests.”