Between October 2019 and January 2024, nearly 10 million migrants tried to enter the US, with record apprehensions occurring in 2022 according to USAFacts. These border encounters, including those denied entry or apprehended without inspection, assist in estimating illegal entries.
Typically, analyzing the demographics and origins of these individuals helps policymakers understand the complex factors behind immigration, aiding in the creation of informed policies, but not during the current presidential administration.
How many border encounters occur each year?
Between October 2019 and January 2024, US Customs and Border Protection recorded over 9.8 million border encounters. In December 2023, encounters peaked at over 370,000, translating to nearly 12,000 daily or more than eight per minute. This spike made December’s figures about 70% of 2017’s count of approximately 527,000 encounters.
Next, we will expose the top 20 countries with the most immigrants coming into the United States in ascending order.
20. Turkey
Turkey had 52,812 total border encounters between 2020–2024
19. Russia
Russia had 123,370 total border encounters between 2020–2024
18. Canada
Canada had 149,515 total border encounters between 2020–2024
17. China
China had 152,121 total border encounters between 2020–2024
16. Peru
Peru had 155,809 total border encounters between 2020–2024
15. Brazil
Brazil had 167,838 total border encounters between 2020–2024
14. Philippines
Philippines had 216,746 total border encounters between 2020–2024
13. Ukraine
Ukraine had 238,807 total border encounters between 2020–2024
12. India
India had 242,783 total border encounters between 2020–2024
11. El Salvador
El Salvador had 303,275 total border encounters between 2020–2024
10. Ecuador
Ecuador had 303,463 total border encounters between 2020–2024
9. Haiti
Haiti had 360,135 total border encounters between 2020–2024
8. Columbia
Columbia had 368,757 total border encounters between 2020–2024
7. Nicaragua
Nicaragua had 398,644 total border encounters between 2020–2024
6. Cuba
Cuba had 564,351 total border encounters between 2020–2024
5. Other
Other smaller countries when added up had a total of 655,373 total border encounters between 2020–2024
4. Venezuela
Venezuela had 743,973 total border encounters between 2020–2024
3. Honduras
Honduras had 867,667 total border encounters between 2020–2024
2. Guatemala
Guatemala had 895,157 total border encounters between 2020–2024
1. Mexico
Mexico had 2,805,657 total border encounters between 2020–2024
How many migrants attempt to cross the southern border?
From October 2019 to January 2024, 81.7% of migrant encounters occurred along the US-Mexico land border, with Texas accounting for 47.7% of these. Arizona and California followed with 18.7% and 14.3% respectively.
How many border encounters involve children?
Between October 2019 and January 2024, over 540,000 border encounters involved children, with 96.4% of these being unaccompanied children. Only 3.6% were children accompanied by adults.
What Do You Think?
Why has the current administration allowed this many people to enter the U.S. borders illegally?
