U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the nation’s largest federal law enforcement agency charged with securing the nation’s borders and facilitating international travel and trade. Our top priority is to keep terrorists and their weapons from entering the United States.
At the nation’s more than 300 ports of entry, CBP officers have a complex mission with broad law enforcement authorities tied to screening all foreign visitors, returning American citizens and imported cargo that enters the U.S. Along the nation’s borders, the United States Border Patrol and Air and Marine Operations are the uniformed law enforcement arms of CBP responsible for securing U.S. borders between ports of entry.
The following is a summary of CBP enforcement actions related to inadmissibles, apprehensions, arrests of individuals with criminal convictions and individuals who have been apprehended multiple times crossing the border illegally.
Visit CBP's Southwest Border Migration page for demographic information regarding apprehensions and inadmissibles on the southwest border and the Assaults and Use of Force page for data on assaults on agents and officers, and uses of force by CBP personnel.
Total CBP Enforcement Actions
Numbers below reflect Fiscal Year (FY) 2017 - FY 2021.
Fiscal Year 2021 runs October 01, 2020 - September 30, 2021.
| FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office of Field Operations (OFO) Total Encounters1 | 216,370 | 281,881 | 288,523 | 241,786 | 294,352 |
| U.S. Border Patrol Total Encounters2 | 310,531 | 404,142 | 859,501 | 405,036 | 1,662,167 |
| Total Enforcement Actions | 526,901 | 683,178 | 1,148,024 | 646,822 | 1,956,519 |
1 Beginning in March FY20, OFO Encounters statistics include both Title 8 Inadmissibles and Title 42 Expulsions. To learn more, visit: Title-8-and-Title-42-Statistics. Inadmissibles refers to individuals encountered at ports of entry who are seeking lawful admission into the United States but are determined to be inadmissible, individuals presenting themselves to seek humanitarian protection under our laws, and individuals who withdraw an application for admission and return to their countries of origin within a short timeframe.
2 Beginning in March FY20, USBP Encounters statistics include both Title 8 Apprehensions and Title 42 Expulsions. To learn more, visit: Title-8-and-Title-42-Statistics. Apprehensions refers to the physical control or temporary detainment of a person who is not lawfully in the U.S. which may or may not result in an arrest.
Search and Rescue Efforts
CBP agents frequently conduct life-saving efforts, while carrying out their respective missions. Numbers below reflect Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 - FY 2021.
Fiscal Year 2021 runs October 01, 2020 - September 30, 2021.
| FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Border Patrol - Southwest Border Only | 4,920 | 5,071 | 12,833 |
| Air and Marine Operations - Nationwide | 377 | 184 | 423 |
Numbers below reflect FY 2017 - FY 2021.
Fiscal Year 2021 runs October 01, 2020 - September 30, 2021.
| FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office of Field Operations | |||||
| Criminal Noncitizens Encountered3 | 10,596 | 11,623 | 12,705 | 7,009 | 6,567 |
| NCIC4 Arrests | 7,656 | 5,929 | 8,546 | 7,108 | 8,979 |
| U.S. Border Patrol | |||||
| Criminal Noncitizens Encountered3 | 8,531 | 6,698 | 4,269 | 2,438 | 10,763 |
| Criminal Noncitizens with Outstanding Wants or Warrants | 2,675 | 1,550 | 4,153 | 2,054 | 1,904 |
3 Criminal noncitizens refers to noncitizens who have been convicted of crime, whether in the United States or abroad, so long as the conviction is for conduct which is deemed criminal by the United States. Criminal noncitizens encountered at ports of entry are inadmissible, absent extenuating circumstances, and represent a subset of total OFO inadmissibles. U.S. Border Patrol arrests of criminal noncitizens are a subset of total apprehensions. See U.S. Border Patrol Criminal Noncitizen Statistics for a breakdown of criminal noncitizen stats by type of conviction.
4 NCIC (National Crime Information Center) arrests refers to the number of CBP arrests of individuals, including U.S. citizens, who are wanted by other law enforcement agencies.
In addition to longstanding federal court precedent recognizing the constitutional authority of the U.S. Government to conduct border searches, numerous federal statutes and regulations also authorize CBP to inspect and examine all individuals and merchandise entering or departing the United States, including all types of personal property, such as electronic devices. See, for example, 8 U.S.C. §§ 1225, 1357 and 19 U.S.C. §§ 482, 507, 1461, 1496, 1499, 1581, 1582. CBP established strict guidelines for conducting border searches of electronic devices in its January 2018 Directive on Border Searches of Electronic Devices.
Border searches of electronic devices have helped detect evidence relating to terrorist activity and other national security matters, child pornography, drug smuggling, human smuggling, bulk cash smuggling, human trafficking, export control violations, intellectual property rights violations and visa fraud. In Fiscal Year 2020, CBP processed more than 238 million travelers at U.S. ports of entry. During that same period of time, CBP conducted 32,038 border searches of electronic devices, representing less than .014 percent of arriving international travelers.
International Travelers Processed with Electronic Device Search
| Month | FY 2018 | FY 2019 | FY 2020 | YTD2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | 2,539 | 3,026 | 3,959 | 2,969 |
| November | 2,446 | 2,962 | 3,805 | 2,909 |
| December | 2,509 | 3,365 | 3,966 | 2,760 |
| January | 3,090 | 3,765 | 4,450 | 3,014 |
| February | 2,512 | 3,096 | 3,702 | 2,829 |
| March | 2,921 | 3,526 | 2,514 | 3,445 |
| April | 2,701 | 3,218 | 451 | 3,139 |
| May | 2,764 | 3,138 | 616 | 3,323 |
| June | 2,606 | 3,480 | 1,149 | 3,150 |
| July | 2,798 | 3,458 | 2,047 | 3,244 |
| August | 3,320 | 4,085 | 2,614 | 3,425 |
| September | 3,090 | 3,794 | 2,765 | 3,243 |
| Total | 33,296 | 40,913 | 32,038 | 37,450 |
Office of Field Operations Nationwide Currency Seizures
Numbers below reflect FY 2015 - FY 2021.
Fiscal Year 2021 runs October 01, 2020 - September 30, 2021.
| FY15 | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amount (USD) | $75,964,824 | $62,101,328 | $65,002,856 | $63,691,464 | $68,879,080 | $93,302,645 | $65,564,642 |
Nationwide Monthly Office of Field Operations Currency Seizures
Numbers below reflect FY 2018 - FY 2019 and FY 2021 to date (TD).
Fiscal Year 2021 runs October 01, 2020 - September 30, 2021.
| FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | $6,198,201 | $4,190,389 | $4,782,909 | $5,700,700 |
| November | $4,303,600 | $4,360,441 | $5,426,672 | $3,484,334 |
| December | $4,907,494 | $4,415,486 | $7,143,022 | $4,345,481 |
| January | $5,194,829 | $7,836,948 | $4,209,230 | $4,382,855 |
| February | $4,604,973 | $5,574,578 | $4,058,508 | $5,153,423 |
| March | $4,894,285 | $5,581,107 | $5,615,991 | $6,161,820 |
| April | $13,424,674 | $13,733,814 | $8,097,239 | $12,238,333 |
| May | $4,024,325 | $4,739,178 | $3,920,587 | $6,298,206 |
| June | $3,168,422 | $4,607,755 | $3,248,196 | $5,048,449 |
| July | $4,503,412 | $4,439,385 | $6,195,526 | $4,324,052 |
| August | $4,249,027 | $5,442,547 | $36,355,753 | $3,010,791 |
| September | $4,218,223 | $3,957,451 | $7,372,288 | $5,416,201 |
| Total | $63,691,464 | $68,879,080 | $96,425,920 | $65,564,642 |
U.S. Border Patrol Nationwide Currency Seizures
Numbers below reflect FY 2015 - FY 2021.
Fiscal Year 2021 runs October 01, 2020 - September 30, 2021.
| FY15 | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amount (USD) | $4,741,288 | $7,924,537 | $5,869,004 | $7,176,142 | $6,805,695 | $8,933,512 | $4,372,125 |
Monthly U.S. Border Patrol Nationwide Checkpoint Currency Seizures
Numbers below reflect FY 2018 - FY 2021.
Fiscal Year 2021 runs October 01, 2020 - September 30, 2021.
| FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | $35,829 | $49,247 | $33,558 | $196,378 |
| November | $26,285 | $51,269 | $114,297 | $17,528 |
| December | $2,822 | $63,697 | $156,961 | $66,907 |
| January | $203,213 | $59,857 | $52,649 | $192,116 |
| February | $117,933 | $103,982 | $84,475 | $263,892 |
| March | $157,669 | $110,924 | $36,301 | $135,123 |
| April | $17,913 | $15,016 | $49,559 | $64,933 |
| May | $256,033 | $129,766 | $691,640 | $29,188 |
| June | $31,494 | $119,732 | $511,781 | $18,626 |
| July | $14,339 | $86,696 | $159,504 | $73,779 |
| August | $169,592 | $141,475 | $275,751 | $331,791 |
| September | $80,358 | $33,487 | $124,274 | $39,257 |
| Total | $1,113,480 | $965,148 | $2,290,750 | $1,429,519 |
OFO and USBP Drug Seizures Dashboard
Explore Office of Field Operations (OFO) and U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) drug seizures by weight and count of drug seizure events by Fiscal Year.
Monthly U.S. Border Patrol Nationwide Checkpoint Drug Seizures
Numbers below reflect FY 2021.
Fiscal Year 2021 runs October 01, 2020 - September 30, 2021.
| Marijuana | Cocaine | Heroin | Methamphetamine | Fentanyl | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | 936 | 307 | 36 | 848 | 105 | 110 |
| November | 1,296 | 299 | 56 | 1,278 | 44 | 6 |
| December | 1,831 | 49 | 0 | 866 | 24 | 7 |
| January | 1,838 | 91 | 3 | 148 | 11 | 9 |
| February | 931 | 391 | 0 | 334 | 26 | 34 |
| March | 3,462 | 122 | 10 | 403 | 18 | 19 |
| April | 1,078 | 83 | 35 | 420 | 70 | 88 |
| May | 758 | 179 | 129 | 311 | 104 | 2 |
| June | 682 | 140 | 33 | 411 | 11 | 8 |
| July | 354 | 272 | 13 | 132 | 15 | 16 |
| August | 634 | 119 | 5 | 134 | 3 | 20 |
| September | 222 | 166 | 25 | 370 | 43 | 6 |
*weights are in pounds (lb)
See Air and Marine Operations Statistics for a breakdown of enforcement actions with non-CBP agencies.
U.S. Border Patrol Nationwide Apprehensions by Gang Affiliation
Numbers below reflect FY2015 - FY2021.
Fiscal Year 2021 runs October 01, 2020 - September 30, 2021.
| Gang Affiliation | FY15 | FY16 | FY17 | FY18 | FY19 | FY20 | FY21 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 107th St | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18th Street | 84 | 47 | 61 | 145 | 168 | 36 | 28 |
| Angelino Heights Sureno 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bandidos | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Barrio Azteca | 6 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Barrio Van Nuys | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Border Brothers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Brown Pride | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chirizos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Folk Nation | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hard Times 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Hells Angels | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Hermanos Pistoleros Latinos (HPL) | 2 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Latin Kings | 16 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 24 | 4 | 6 |
| Locos Surenos Trece | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Los Traviosos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Los Zetas | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MS-13 | 335 | 253 | 228 | 413 | 464 | 72 | 113 |
| Mara 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Mara-R | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maravilla Salva Trucha | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Market Street | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Mexican Mafia | 4 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| Mexicles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mexikanemi | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nortenos | 14 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| Other | 154 | 136 | 90 | 82 | 110 | 75 | 53 |
| Outlaws | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Pacific Street Gang | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Paisas | 73 | 119 | 53 | 62 | 90 | 93 | 79 |
| Partido Revolucionario Mexican (PRM) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Playboys | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| San Fernando Valley Gang | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| South Los Angeles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Southwest Cholos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Surenos (sur-13) | 140 | 90 | 66 | 66 | 70 | 66 | 46 |
| Tango Blast | 14 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 20 | 7 | 7 |
| Texas Syndicate | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Tortilla Flats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Vallucos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Vilanos-13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| West Park | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Westside | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Zetas | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 844 | 702 | 536 | 808 | 976 | 363 | 348 |
Recidivism percentages are updated at the end of each fiscal year.
| FY 15 | FY 16 | FY 17 | FY 18 | FY 19 | FY 20 | FY 21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recidivism5 | 14% | 12% | 10% | 11% | 7% | 26% | 27% |
5 Recidivism refers to percentage of individuals apprehended more than one time by the Border Patrol within a fiscal year. Beginning in March FY20, USBP encounters statistics and recidivism calculations include both Title 8 Apprehensions and Title 42 Expulsions. To learn more, visit: Title-8-and-Title-42-Statistics. Apprehensions refers to the physical control or temporary detainment of a person who is not lawfully in the U.S. which may or may not result in an arrest.