WASHINGTON — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released operational statistics today for January 2024. Migrant encounters along the southwest border were significantly lower than experienced in December. CBP monthly reporting can be viewed on CBP’s Stats and Summaries webpage.
“As a result of seasonal trends, as well as enhanced enforcement efforts by the men and women of CBP and our international partners, southwest border encounters between ports of entry dropped by 50% in January. We continue to experience serious challenges along our border which surpass the capacity of the immigration system,” said Troy A. Miller, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner. “CBP remains on the frontline in preventing fentanyl and other dangerous drugs from entering our country, enforcing our nation’s laws and interdicting 34% more fentanyl and 68% more cocaine than the previous month.”
CBP continues to work closely with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to quickly process individuals encountered at the border and remove those who do not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States, utilizing consequences strengthened by the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways Rule. Since May 12, 2023 to January 31, 2024, DHS has removed or returned over 520,000 individuals, the vast majority of whom crossed the southwest border, including more than 87,000 individual family members. The majority of all individuals encountered at the southwest border over the past three years have been removed, returned, or expelled. Total removals and returns since mid-May exceed removals and returns in every full fiscal year since 2013.
Below are key operational statistics for CBP’s primary mission areas in January 2024. View all CBP statistics online.
Ensuring Border Security and Managing Migration
CBP has taken significant steps to surge personnel and resources to impacted areas and address challenges we have experienced across the southwest border. CBP continues to expeditiously process and remove individuals who do not have a legal basis to remain in the country. We are working together with our domestic and foreign partners to jointly limit disorderly migration across the region, offering lawful pathways and cutting out ruthless smugglers who continue to spread falsehoods and show disregard for the safety and well-being of vulnerable migrants. CBP is targeting and disrupting transnational criminal organizations and smugglers who take advantage of and profit from migrants.
In January 2024, the U.S. Border Patrol recorded 124,220 encounters between ports of entry along the southwest border, a decrease of 50% from December 2023.
CBP’s total encounters along the southwest border in January 2024 were 176,205, a decrease of 42% from December 2023. Total encounters include U.S. Border Patrol encounters between ports of entry, as well as individuals who presented themselves at ports of entry (including those with CBP One appointments, detailed further below).
Among CBP’s 176,205 total southwest border encounters in January 2024, encounters with single adults decreased by 35% compared to December 2023, encounters with unaccompanied children decreased by 37%, and encounters with family unit individuals decreased by 51%.
CBP continually analyzes and responds to changes in migration patterns, particularly irregular migration outside of legal pathways and border crossings. We work with our federal and international partners to combat human smuggling. The fact remains: the United States continues to enforce immigration law, and our borders are not open for those without a legal basis to enter the country. Migrants attempting to enter without authorization are subject to removal under Title 8 authorities.
CBP’s message for anyone who is thinking of attempting to circumvent lawful pathways to enter the United States 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 January, the U.S. Border Patrol conducted 245 rescues, totaling 1,611 rescues in FY 2024.
View more migration statistics and rescues statistics.
CBP One™ App
The CBP One™ mobile application remains a key component of DHS’s efforts to incentivize noncitizens to use lawful, safe, humane, and orderly pathways and disincentivize attempts to cross between ports of entry. In January, CBP processed approximately 45,000 individuals through appointments at ports of entry utilizing advanced information submitted in CBP One™
CBP One appointments accounted for 87% of noncitizens processed at ports of entry; demonstrating that noncitizens will follow an orderly process when one is available. Since the appointment scheduling function in CBP One™ was introduced in January 2023 through the end of January 2024, 459,118 individuals have successfully scheduled appointments to present at ports of entry using CBP One™ instead of risking their lives in the hands of smugglers. The top nationalities who have been processed are Venezuelan, Mexican, and Haitian.
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
Through the end of January 2024, over 357,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans arrived lawfully and were granted parole under the parole processes. Specifically, over 75,000 Cubans, 144,000 Haitians, 64,000 Nicaraguans, and 92,000 Venezuelans were vetted and authorized for travel; and over 74,000 Cubans, 138,000 Haitians, 58,000 Nicaraguans, and 86,000 Venezuelans arrived lawfully and were granted parole.
As Safeguarding Communities by Interdicting Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
As the largest law enforcement agency in the United States, CBP is uniquely positioned to detect, identify, and seize illicit drugs before they enter our communities. CBP’s combination of interdiction and intelligence capabilities, complemented by its border search authorities, scientific services, non-intrusive inspection equipment, and canine detection teams, places it at the forefront of the U.S. government’s efforts to combat illicit fentanyl and other dangerous drugs.
CBP continues to conduct operations, including Operation Apollo, which target the smuggling of illicit fentanyl and other dangerous drugs. These operations leverage intelligence and investigative information to target drug traffickers’ supply chains and interdict items required in the production of illicit fentanyl, including precursor chemicals, pill presses and parts, movement of finished product, and illicit proceeds.
Nationwide in January, fentanyl seizures increased 34% and cocaine seizures increased 68% from December to January.
To date in FY 2024 through January, CBP has seized 7,000 pounds of fentanyl. CBP has stopped more fentanyl in the last two years than in the previous five years combined, and we continue to optimize our intelligence and field operations to stop these deadly substances from reaching American communities.
Additional CBP drug seizure statistics can be found on the Drug Seizure Statistics webpage.
Facilitating Lawful Trade and Travel and Promoting Economic Security
As international travel continues to increase, CBP is leveraging technology to streamline efficiency and increase security at air and land ports of entry. Travelers are encouraged to utilize CBP’s mobile apps to enhance their travel experience, including the Global Entry Mobile Application and Mobile Passport Control, as well as new Global Entry Touchless Portals at nearly all international airports across the United States, which protect passenger privacy and expedite arrival processing by eliminating paper receipts.
Travelers arriving by air into the United States increased 14% from January 2023 to January 2024, and pedestrians arriving by land at ports of entry increased 2.6% over the same period.
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 January 2024, CBP processed more than 2.7 million entry summaries valued at more than $267 billion, identifying estimated duties of nearly $7 billion to be collected by the U.S. government. In January, trade via the ocean environment accounted for 44% of the total import value, followed by air, truck, and rail.
Consumers are encouraged to be alert to the dangers of counterfeit goods especially when shopping online as they support criminal activity, hurt American businesses, and often have materials or ingredients that can pose serious health and safety risks. Every year CBP seizes millions of counterfeit products worth billions of dollars had they been genuine. In January, CBP seized 1,814 shipments that contained counterfeit goods valued at more than $718 million. More information about CBP’s intellectual property rights enforcement is available at https://www.cbp.gov/trade.
View more travel statistics, and trade statistics.
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 January, CBP stopped 424 shipments valued at more than $236 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.
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 6,248 emergency action notifications for restricted and prohibited plant and animal products entering the United States in January 2024. CBP conducted 102,987 positive passenger inspections and issued 898 civil penalties and/or violations to the traveling public for failing to declare prohibited agriculture items.
View more agricultural enforcement statistics.