Washington, D.C. (July 19, 2023) - New analysis from the Center for Immigration Studies provides insight into the latest “Nationwide Encounters” statistics for June, which were just released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). While they show that Border Patrol apprehensions if illegal entrants at the Southwest border fell last month, they also reveal that June saw one of the highest rates of Title 8 apprehensions ever recorded as Title 42 ended. This latest surge is the result of flawed border policies, as opposed to external factors.

Border Patrol agents at the Southwest border have already made more than 963,000 Title 8 apprehensions (i.e., not under Title 42) in the first nine months of FY 2023, putting them on track to make nearly 1.285 million apprehensions in FY 2023.

Andrew Arthur, the Center’s fellow in law and policy and author of the analysis, said, “I caution against an early celebration of the apprehension numbers, as I expect the Title 8 numbers will continue to rise. Worse is likely yet to come, particularly with the almost inevitable exploitation of loopholes in Biden’s new asylum rules, the administration’s refusal to impose consequences on illegal entrants, and inefficiencies in processing and removal procedures.”

The Center’s analysis highlights the significant shift in demographics among those apprehended, with a decrease in Mexican nationals and a rise in apprehensions of individuals from other countries, with 43,000 plus of the nearly 100,000 illicit migrants coming from Venezuela, Colombia, Brazil, India, and China. Further, the number of apprehended illegal entrants from countries other than the top 20 traditional sending countries has significantly increased, to 11,500, resulting in more complex and more time-consuming processing for agents.