US Border Crisis

Extracted Attributes

• Demographic Trend

  Increasing proportion of children, unaccompanied minors, and family units (tripled between 2020 and 2024)

• Data Discrepancy Note

  Wikipedia reports 7.2 million encounters (2021-2024), while House Republican Policy Committee reports 8.75 million for the first three years of the Biden presidency

• Lead Enforcement Agency

  U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

• Primary Countries of Origin

  Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Venezuela

• Known Gotaways (Jan 2021 - Sept 2023)

  1.7 million

• Total Migrant Encounters (Jan 2021 - Jan 2024)

  Over 7.2 million

Timeline

• The US declares a crisis at the border due to an influx of unaccompanied minors and women. (Source: Web Search (Wikipedia))

  2014-01-01

• Title 42 expulsions begin as a pandemic-era border policy. (Source: Web Search (USAFacts))

  2020-03-01

• Illegal border crossings begin a significant surge under the Biden administration. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2021-01-01

• Title 42 expulsions officially end. (Source: Web Search (USAFacts))

  2023-05-01

• Cumulative migrant encounters since January 2021 surpass 7.2 million. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2024-01-01

• Border apprehensions fall back to 2020 levels. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2024-06-01

Mexico–United States border crisis

The illegal migration of people into the United States across the Mexico-United States border has caused an ongoing migrant crisis. U.S. presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump both referred to surges in migrants at the border as a "crisis" during their tenure. Following a decline in migrants crossing the border during the first Trump administration, illegal border crossings surged during the Biden administration, with over 7.2 million migrants encountered between January 2021 and January 2024, not counting gotaways. Experts have attributed the increase in attempted crossings to pent-up demand, changes in global migration patterns, a change of perceptions by migrants about the ease of crossing, and incentives for migrants to try to cross again after Title 42 expulsions. The number of migrants sent back increased as a result, though the percentage sent back decreased. Border apprehensions fell back to 2020 levels in mid-2024. The migrants, who are mostly of Guatemalan, Salvadoran, Honduran, and Venezuelan citizenship, are reported to be escaping economic hardship, gang violence and environmental disaster in their home countries (particularly acute in Guatemala and Honduras) to seek asylum in the US. Unlike the demographic of migrants in the preceding years, an increasing proportion of current migrants arriving at the Mexico–US border are children, including unaccompanied children and from countries outside Latin America.

Web Search Results

• Mexico–United States border crisis - Wikipedia

  In 2014, the US declared a crisis at the border due to an influx of unaccompanied minors and women making their way through checkpoints. The US southern border had long struggled with implementing policies that aim to prevent immigration-related tragedies. With a decline in unlawful immigration from Mexico, the crisis predominantly concerned increased immigration from the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA), encompassing Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Academics claimed the [...] 25. ^ "'New Yorker' writer traces the current U.S. border crisis back to the Cold War". NPR. 26. ^ "Manmade Immigration Crisis Caused by U.S. Intervention in Latin America - Julian Samora Research Institute - Michigan State University". jsri.msu.edu. 27. ^ Shesgreen, Deirdre (December 21, 2018). "How US foreign policy in Central America may have fueled the migrant crisis". USA TODAY. [...] immigration crisis was a result of US interventions in Central America during the Cold War, with high amounts of political instability, violent crime, and poverty stemming from the US's support of authoritarian regimes.[better source needed]

• [PDF] REAL LIFE IMPACTS OF THE BORDER CRISIS

  humanitarian and security border crisis in American history has taken a toll on American safety. The mass importation of illegal migrants from all over the world, who are inherently breaking the law by coming here illegally, increases crime, drains the resources of law enforcement, and gives nefarious organizations such as drug cartels and terrorist groups access to our nation. Domestic Crime When it comes to criminal activity by illegal migrants, a single added crime is too much and would be [...] Congressional Democrats, make us a weaker nation. The Border Crisis Under the Biden administration, the border has been an unmitigated disaster. In just the first three years of Biden’s presidency, there were approximately 8.75 million encounters between illegal migrants and the U.S. Border Patrol, the vast majority of which have been at the southern border.1 In addition, there were over 1.7 million known “gotaways” from January 2021 through September 2023.2 Fiscal year (FY) 23 saw an increase [...] on the Termination of Emergency With Respect To The Southern Border Of The United States And Redirection Of Funds Diverted To Border Wall Construction. The White House. 7 Policies That Led to the Biden Border Crisis. House Republican Policy Committee. 8 Id 9 Attorney General Ken Paxton Refuses Biden Administration’s Demand to Surrender Shelby Park and End Border Security Measures. Attorney General of Texas. 10 Mohammad Fazel Zarandi, Jonathan S. Feinstein, Edward H. Kaplan. Yale Study Finds

• What can the data tell us about unauthorized immigration?

  ## The US averaged over 1.3 million border apprehensions a year during the 1990s compared to less than half a million during the 2010s. Nationwide border encounters by category, FY 1980–2023 Border expulsions began in March 2020 and ended May 2023. The Office of Field Operations provides detailed data on Inadmissibles as far back as 2010, so that data is not included as to note artificially inflate encounter figures in more recent years. [...] Border encounters have risen since 2019 for all nations monitored by CBP, but the precise numbers vary over time based on each country’s unique political and economic dynamics, travel distances, and other factors influencing migration patterns. ## Explore the data on border encounters by country of origin. Total US border encounters by individual citizenship, Oct 2019–June 2024 Figures are adjusted to a different scale for each country. Data is organized by fiscal year. [...] The proportion of encounters of individuals in family units tripled between fiscal years 2020 and 2024 to-date from 11.6% to 35.1% of total encounters. The number of family unit encounters also includes children traveling with their families, who are not included in the unaccompanied or accompanied children categories. ## The proportion of family units encountered at the US border roughly tripled between 2020 and 2024. Demographics of individuals encounters at the US border

• A New Era of Immigration Enforcement Unfolds in the U.S. ...

  Unauthorized migration at the U.S.-Mexico border plunged dramatically during the just-ended fiscal year, as the Trump administration leveraged new border controls, further asylum restrictions, and the promise of mass deportations, reaching about 444,000 migrant encounters recorded in fiscal year (FY) 2025. This sharp drop from 2.1 million encounters the prior year was also marked by reversion to a pattern last experienced more than a decade ago: Flows primarily composed of Mexican single adults [...] Notably, 75 percent of the FY 2025 encounters were recorded in the last four months of the Biden administration. Irregular arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border fell sharply at the start of the Trump administration, continuing a trend that began in January 2024 and accelerated mid-year, and have remained consistently low since. Since February, the Southwest border has seen an average of 11,000 encounters a month. In fact, daily Border Patrol interdictions reached as low as 116 in July—a far cry [...] By Julia Gelatt, Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and James D. Bachmeier Stay Events About Us + Mission + Staff + Trustees + Funders + Work at MPI + Intern at MPI + Contact MPI + Donate ### Programs Stay MPI Europe + Mission + Staff + Jobs + Internships + Contact Stay A New Era of Immigration Enforcement Unfolds in the U.S. Interior and at the Border under Trump 2.0 ## You are here Home » Newsroom Short Reads October 2025

• Border Security

  U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), a DHS component, is one of the world's largest law enforcement organizations and the United States’ first unified border agency. CBP applies a comprehensive approach to border management and control, combining customs, immigration, border security, and agricultural protection into one coordinated and supportive activity. [...] U.S. Border Patrol agents, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers and agriculture specialists, and Air and Marine Operations agents; along with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations Special Agents and Enforcement and Removal Operations personnel; and the U.S. Coast Guard protect America’s borders. These men and women prevent terrorists, drug traffickers, and illicit drugs from entering the United States while continuing their mission of seizing [...] Additional Information Measuring Effectiveness Image Image 7: Border protection agents DHS measures the effectiveness of border security. Measuring Effectiveness Trade Image Image 8: Border protection agent International commerce is critical to America’s economy, and the entire world. Trade Trusted Traveler Programs