WASHINGTON – U.S. Customs and Border Protection released operational statistics today for August 2023. CBP remains vigilant and expects to see fluctuations in migration, knowing that smugglers continue to mislead and exploit vulnerable individuals. Encounters along the Southwest border remain lower than levels seen in November and December 2022, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Public Health Order pursuant to Title 42 was in effect.
“CBP remains vigilant in the face of ruthless smugglers and transnational criminal organizations who exploit vulnerable migrants, the same criminal organizations trafficking in lethal drugs that harm our communities,” said Troy A. Miller, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner. “Our operational tempo along the border has increased in response to increased encounters, and we remain squarely focused on our broader security mission and enforcing U.S. immigration laws. We are maximizing consequences against those without a legal basis to remain in the United States, including by processing more individuals into expedited removal than ever before. The men and women of CBP continue to work, day in and day out, to protect our nation, disrupting the entry of dangerous people and dangerous goods into the country while providing humanitarian care for vulnerable individuals.”
Below are key operational statistics for CBP’s primary mission areas in August 2023. View all CBP statistics online.
Ensuring Border Security and Managing Migration
CBP is processing all noncitizens under Title 8 immigration authorities, and placing noncitizens who cross the border unlawfully into Expedited Removal or Section 240 Removal Proceedings. Noncitizens who cross between the ports of entry or who present themselves at a port of entry without making a CBP One™ appointment are subject to the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways rule. This rule presumes asylum ineligibility for those who fail to use lawful processes, with certain exceptions.
Individuals and families without a legal basis to remain in the U.S. are being removed pursuant to CBP’s longstanding Title 8 authorities and are subject to a minimum five-year bar on admission and potential criminal prosecution if they subsequently re-enter without authorization. In coordination with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, since May 2023, DHS has repatriated over 250,000 individuals, including more than 36,000 individual family members. DHS has removed or returned more individual family members in the last four months than in any previous full fiscal year.
In August 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol recorded 181,059 encounters between ports of entry along the Southwest border. CBP’s total encounters along the Southwest border in August were 232,972.
Recidivism following the end of the Public Health Order under Title 42 has significantly decreased. Among CBP’s 232,972 overall encounters along the Southwest border in August 2023, 11% involved individuals who had at least one prior encounter in the previous 12 months, compared to an average one-year re-encounter rate of 14% for fiscal years 2014 – 2019 and a repeat encounter rate of 35% in August of 2022. In April 2023, the last month in which the Title 42 Public Health Order was fully in place, repeat encounters accounted for nearly a quarter, 23%, of overall encounters. The number of unique individuals encountered by CBP along the Southwest border was 164,911 in August 2023.
CBP’s message for anyone who is thinking of entering the United States illegally along the Southwest border is simple: don’t do it. When noncitizens cross the border unlawfully, they put their lives in peril. The U.S. Border Patrol has undertaken significant efforts in recent years to expand capacity to aid and rescue individuals in distress. To prevent the loss of life, CBP initiated a Missing Migrant Program in 2017 that locates noncitizens reported missing, rescues individuals in distress, and reunifies decedents’ remains with their families in the border region. In August 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol conducted 3,212 rescues, bringing the total number of rescues in FY 2023 from 29,365 at the end of July to 32,577 at the end of August.
View more migration statistics and rescues statistics.
Safeguarding Communities by Interdicting Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
CBP continues to interdict the flow of illicit narcotics and dangerous drugs across the border. CBP leads the federal government’s efforts to stop dangerous drugs like fentanyl and its precursors and analogs from entering the country.
To disrupt the supply chains used in the development and movement of fentanyl, CBP launched two new interagency operations in June: Operations Artemis and Rolling Wave. These efforts build on the success of Operations Blue Lotus and Four Horsemen, which seized nearly 10,000 pounds of fentanyl in a two-month period.
Operation Artemis, led by CBP, is leveraging intelligence and investigative information derived from Blue Lotus to target drug traffickers’ fentanyl supply chains and interdict items required in the production of fentanyl. The goal is to identify and target critical junctures in the illicit production and international trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs by focusing on four lines of effort – precursor chemicals, pill presses and parts, movement of finished product, and illicit proceeds. From June when the operation launched through August 30, CBP interdicted more than 8,000 pounds of fentanyl precursor chemicals.
CBP’s fentanyl seizures also increased from July to August. To date in FY 2023 through August, CBP has seized more than 25,500 pounds of fentanyl – compared with 12,800 pounds over the same period in FY 2022. CBP’s fentanyl seizures have increased more than 800 percent since fiscal year 2019 and our fiscal year 2023 seizures of fentanyl have already surpassed the fiscal year 2022 seizure total.
Nationwide in August, seizures of other dangerous drugs – cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and marijuana – increased 6% from July, including a 78% increase in methamphetamine and a 39% increase in heroin seized. Additional CBP drug seizure statistics can be found here.
View more drug seizure statistics.
Facilitating Lawful Trade and Travel and Promoting Economic Security
Travel volumes continue to rebound globally from pandemic lows. Travelers arriving by air into the United States increased 16% from August 2022 to August 2023, and pedestrians arriving by land at ports of entry increased 13% over the same period. Passenger vehicles processed at ports of entry increased 11% from August 2022 to August 2023.
CBP works diligently with the trade community and port operators to ensure that merchandise is cleared as efficiently as possible and to strengthen international supply chains and improve border security. In August 2023, CBP processed more than 2.8 million entry summaries valued at more than $281 billion. CBP identified nearly $7.1 billion of duties to be collected by the U.S. government. In August, trade via the maritime environment accounted for 43% of the total import value, followed by air, truck, and rail.
View more travel statistics, and trade statistics.
CBP One™ App
The CBP One™ mobile application remains a key component of DHS’s efforts to incentivize noncitizens to use lawful, safe, and orderly processes and pathways and disincentivize attempts to cross between ports of entry. In August, CBP Office of Field Operations (OFO) processed more than 45,400 individuals with CBP One™ appointments at ports of entry.
Since the appointment scheduling function in CBP One™ was introduced in January 2023 through the end of August, nearly 263,000 individuals have successfully scheduled appointments to present at a port of entry using CBP One™. The top nationalities who have scheduled appointments are Haitian, Mexican, and Venezuelan.
Effective August 9, CBP transitioned to scheduling appointments from 14 days to 21 days in advance to allow noncitizens additional time to prepare and arrange travel to their requested port of entry. This change will be reflected in next month’s statistics. A percentage of daily available appointments are allocated to the earliest registered CBP One™ profiles, so noncitizens who have been trying to obtain appointments for the longest time will be prioritized. CBP is continually monitoring and evaluating the application to ensure its functionality and guard against bad actors.
CHNV Parole Processes
Building upon the successful parole process established for Venezuelans in October 2022, the parole processes for nationals of Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua announced by President Biden on January 5, 2023, have significantly reduced irregular migration and denied smugglers the opportunity to exploit individuals who have instead benefited from the expansion of safe, orderly, and humane pathways.
Through the end of August 2023, over 211,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans had arrived lawfully under the parole processes. This number includes more than 45,000 Cubans, more than 71,000 Haitians, more than 32,000 Nicaraguans, and more than 61,000 Venezuelans who have arrived in the U.S. More than 47,000 Cubans, more than 84,000 Haitians, more than 39,000 Nicaraguans, and more than 68,000 Venezuelans have been vetted and authorized for travel.
Protecting Consumers and Eradicating Forced Labor from Supply Chains
CBP continues to lead U.S. government efforts to eliminate goods from the supply chain made with forced labor from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. In July, CBP stopped 320 shipments valued at more than $68 million for further examination based on the suspected use of forced labor.
Intellectual property rights violations continue to put America’s innovation economy at risk. Counterfeit and pirated goods threaten the competitiveness of U.S. businesses, the livelihoods of American workers, and the health and safety of consumers. In August, CBP seized 1,710 shipments that contained counterfeit goods valued at more than $177 million if the items had been genuine.
View more UFLPA enforcement statistics, and intellectual property rights enforcement statistics.
Defending our Nation’s Agricultural System
Through targeting, detection, and interception, CBP agriculture specialists work to prevent threats from entering the United States.
CBP issued 5,912 emergency action notifications for restricted and prohibited plant and animal products entering the United States in August 2023. CBP conducted 108,227 positive passenger inspections and issued 845 civil penalties and/or violations to the traveling public for failing to declare prohibited agriculture items.
View more agricultural enforcement statistics.