Borders: USA/Mexico Statistics

Weapons And Firearms Seized

YEAR AM CA MA OG RE SC SI BA TOTAL
FY 2021 345,757 – 419 230,761 181 – 18,036 – 595,154
FY 2022 1,029,554 – 516 115,902 253 – 1,272 – 1,147,497
FY 2023 501,368 847 7,532 34,181 324 357 2,457 544 547,610
FY 2024* 243,783 178 6,475 47,719 175 238 1,907 3,282 303,756

AM = Ammunition
CA = Case
MA = Magazine
OG = Other Gun Parts
RE = Receiver
SC = Scope
SI = Silencer/Muffler
BA = Vest/Body Armour

* FY 2024, or Fiscal Year 2024, ends on September 30th, 2024

Source: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/weapons-and-ammunition-seizures

Total Customs And Border Patrol Enforcement Actions

YEAR TOTALS OFFICE OF FIELD OPS US BORDER PATROL
FY 2017 526,901 216,370 310,531
FY 2018 683,178 281,881 404,142
FY 2019 1,148,024 288,523 859,501
FY 2020 646,822 241,786 405,036
FY 2021 1,956,519 294,352 1,662,167
FY 2022 2,766,582 551,930 2,214,652
FY 2023 3,201,144 1,137,452 2,063,692
FY 2024* 1,981,177 809,460 1,171,717

* 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.

** 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.

Inadmissible Foreign Criminals And Outstanding Warrants

YEAR OFO C.N.E NCIC** USBP C.N.E USBP Warrants
FY 2017 10,596 7,656 8,531 2,675
FY 2018 11,623 5,929 6,698 1,550
FY 2019 12,705 8,546 4,269 4,153
FY 2020 7,009 7,108 2,438 2,054
FY 2021 6,567 8,979 10,763 1,904
FY 2022 16,993 10,389 15,267 949
FY 2023 20,166 11,509 15,267 988
FY 2024*** 11,626 6,946 10,337 587

OFO = Office of Field Operations
USBP = U.S. Border Patrol

* 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.

** 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.

*** FY 2024, or Fiscal Year 2024, ends on September 30th, 2024

Drug Seizure Statistics 2021-2024

YEAR OC NO DE JA FE MA AP MY JN JL AU SE TOT
2021 98K 67K 69K 60K 90K 88K 64K 89K 93K 77K 75 45 913K
2022 83K 58K 45K 50K 60K 44K 53K 47K 61K 54K 60K 41K 656K
2023 37K 39K 40K 49K 70K 56K 36K 41K 44K 50K 49K 39K 549K
2024* 37K 48K 34K 37K 67K 51K 46K – – – – – 321K

* FY 2024, or Fiscal Year 2024, ends on September 30th, 2024

Data represents pounds that were seized, rounded for space considerations. For example, 58K means 58,000 pounds of narcotics.

Source: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/drug-seizure-statistics

Types Of Drugs Seized 2021-2024

YEAR MJ ME CO FE HE KH KE EC LSD OTH
2021 319K 192K 98K 11K 5K 203K 22K 1K 38 73K
2022 155K 175K 70K 15K 2K 175K 14K 1K 36 49K
2023 150K 140K 81K 27K 2K 70K 8K 649 11 71K
2024* 110K 105K 41K 11K 513 5K 9K 321 6 39K

MJ = Marijuana
ME = Methamphetamine
CO = Cocaine
FE = Fentanyl
HE = Heroin
KH = Khat (Catha Edulis)
EC = Ecstasy
LSD = LSD
OTH = Other Drugs

Source: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/drug-seizure-statistics

* FY 2024, or Fiscal Year 2024, ends on September 30th, 2024

Terrorist Screening Encounters

OFFICE OF FIELD OPERATIONS
YEAR SOUTHERN BORDER NORTHERN BORDER TOTAL
FY 2017 116 217 333
FY 2018 155 196 351
FY 2019 280 258 538
FY 2020 72 124 196
FY 2021 103 54 157
FY 2022 67 313 380
FY 2023 80 484 564
FY 2024* 24 172 196
U.S. BORDER PATROL
YEAR SOUTHERN BORDER NORTHERN BORDER TOTAL
FY 2017 2 0 2
FY 2018 6 0 6
FY 2019 0 3 3
FY 2020 3 0 3
FY 2021 15 1 16
FY 2022 98 0 98
FY 2023 169 3 172
FY 2024* 80 1 81

* FY 2024, or Fiscal Year 2024, ends on September 30th, 2024

Source: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-statistics

Arrests Of Non-Citizen Gang Members

YEAR 18TH ST. MS-13 PAISAS OTHER TOTAL
FY 2015 84 335 73 352 844
FY 2016 47 253 119 283 702
FY 2017 61 228 53 194 536
FY 2018 145 413 62 188 808
FY 2019 168 464 90 254 976
FY 2020 36 72 93 162 363
FY 2021 28 113 79 128 348

Source: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-statistics-fy2023

Note: More recent data breaks down data among many other gangs. However, most have had just a few members detained at the border.

Arrests of Non-Citizens with Criminal Convictions

FISCAL YEAR TOTAL ARRESTS
FY 2017 8,531
FY 2018 6,698
FY 2019 4,269
FY 2020 2,438
FY 2021 10,763
FY 2022 12,028
FY 2023 15,267
FY 2024* 10,337

* FY 2024 ends on September 30th, 2024

Source: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-statistics/criminal-noncitizen-statistics

Records checks of available law enforcement databases following the apprehension of an individual may reveal a history of criminal conviction(s). That conviction information is recorded in a U.S. Customs and Border Protection database, from which the data below is derived.

Total Criminal Convictions by Type Of Non-Citizens

YEAR ABSV ROB DUI HOM DRUG IRE WEAP SEX OTH
FY 2017 692 595 1,596 3 1,249 4,502 173 137 1,851
FY 2018 524 347 1,113 3 871 3,920 106 80 1,364
FY 2019 299 184 614 2 449 2,663 66 58 814
FY 2020 208 143 364 3 386 1,261 49 156 580
FY 2021 1,178 825 1,629 60 2,138 6,160 336 488 2,691
Fy 2022 1,142 896 1,614 62 2,239 6,797 309 365 2,891
FY 2023 1,254 864 2,493 29 2,055 8,790 307 284 3,286
FY 2024* 662 412 1,778 20 942 6,368 142 133 1,933

* Fiscal Year 2024 runs October 1, 2023- September 30, 2024.

Source: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-statistics/criminal-noncitizen-statistics

The FY total displays the total CES apprehensions but does not equal the sum of data by category because the same apprehension can have multiple NCIC Charges that are included in multiple categories.

“Other” includes any conviction not included in the categories above.

ABSV = Assault, Battery, Domestic Violence
ROB = Burglary, Robbery, Larceny, Theft, Fraud
DUI = Driving Under The Influence
HOM = Homicide: Murder, Manslaughter, etc….
DRUG = Illegal Drug Possession, Trafficking
IRE = Illegal Re-Entry
WEAP = Illegal Weapons Possession, Transport, Trafficking
SEX = Sexual Offences
OTH = Categories Not Listed Above

Historical Data On Apprehensions: 1925 – 2020

YEAR TOTAL YEAR TOTAL YEAR TOTAL
1925 22,199 1926 12,735 1927 16,393
1928 23,566 1929 32,711 1930 20,880
1931 22,276 1932 22,735 1933 20,949
1934 10,319 1935 11,016 1936 11,728
1937 13,054 1938 12,851 1939 12,037
1940 10,492 1941 11,294 1942 11,784
1943 11,175 1944 31,175 1945 69,164
1946 99,591 1947 193,657 1948 192,779
1949 288,253 1950 468,339 1951 509,040
1952 528,815 1953 835,311 1954 1,028,246
1955 225,186 1956 68,420 1957 46,225
1958 40,504 1959 32,996 1960 28,966
1961 29,384 1962 29,897 1963 38,861
1964 42,879 1965 52,422 1966 79,610
1967 94,778 1968 123,519 1969 172,391
1970 231,116 1971 302,517 1972 396,495
1973 498,123 1974 634,777 1975 596,796
1976 696,039 1977 812,541 1978 862,837
1979 888,729 1980 759,420 1981 825,290
1982 819,919 1983 1,105,670 1984 1,138,566
1985 1,262,435 1986 1,692,544 1987 1,158,030
1988 969,214 1989 891,147 1990 1,103,354
1991 1,132,033 1992 1,199,560 1993 1,263,490
1994 1,031,668 1995 1,324,202 1996 1,549,876
1997 1,412,953 1998 1,555,776 1999 1,579,010
2000 1,676,438 2001 1,266,214 2002 955,310
2003 931,557 2004 1,160,395 2005 1,189,075
2006 1,089,092 2007 876,704 2008 723,825
2009 556,041 2010 463,382 2011 340,252
2012 364,768 2013 420,789 2014 486,651
2015 337,117 2016 415,816 2017 310,531
2018 414,142 2019 859,501 2020 405,036

* FY 2020 ended on September 30th, 2020

Source: https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/media-resources/stats (pdf file) (archive)

Again, this is nowhere near all the information that the CBP puts out. It’s just a snapshot of the people, drugs, weapons and more that have been stopped. It’s alarming to think that isn’t being caught.

(1) https://www.cbp.gov/
(2) https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-statistics
(3) https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/drug-seizure-statistics
(4) https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/weapons-and-ammunition-seizures
(5) https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-encounters
(6) https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-statistics/criminal-noncitizen-statistics
(7) https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/media-resources/stats
(8) U.S. Border Patrol Total Apprehensions (FY 1925 – FY 2020) (508)