Texas Border Business
WASHINGTON – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) today released monthly operational statistics for November 2023. CBP monthly reporting can be viewed online.
“CBP continues to execute its important mission to protect the American people, safeguard our borders, and enhance the nation’s economic prosperity by implementing operational plans, surging personnel and decompressing areas along the southwest border while processing and vetting migrants who are encountered humanely, safely, and efficiently, consistent with our laws. We are facing a serious challenge along the southwest border and CBP and our federal partners need more resources from Congress — as outlined in the supplemental budget request — to enhance border security and America’s national security.” said Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner Troy A. Miller. “Despite ongoing challenges, in November, the men and women of CBP continued their tireless work and recorded increased seizures of illegal narcotics while facilitating lawful trade and increased holiday travel.”
Below are key operational statistics for CBP’s primary mission areas in November 2023. View all CBP statistics.
Ensuring Border Security and Managing Migration
CBP has surged personnel and transportation resources to respond to increases in migrant encounters along the southwest border, transferring migrants from high traffic areas to locations where they can be efficiently and humanely processed. We are screening and vetting every individual we encounter at the border and those without a legal basis to stay are processed for removal.
We continue to target criminal smuggling networks that are preying on vulnerable migrants. We are undertaking new law enforcement operations to impose consequences on transportation companies, including bus and van lines, used by smuggling organizations and nefarious actors to move migrants through perilous routes from northern Mexico to our southwest border. We are in constant communication with local, state, federal, and international stakeholders to address current irregular migration patterns most effectively and will continue to adjust our operational posture as needed.
Despite these efforts, however, global migration remains historically high in the Western Hemisphere and around the world. It is a challenging situation that requires more staff and resources, which is why the Administration requested supplemental funding from Congress to ensure we have what we need to carry out our mission. Supplemental funding would help cover projected shortfalls and hire additional personnel, including 1,300 additional Border Patrol agents, to help right-size a system that was not built to manage the level of encounters we are experiencing.
Individuals and families without a legal basis to remain in the U.S. continue to be subject to removal pursuant to DHS’s longstanding Title 8 authorities. Through coordination, planning, and execution that includes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, since May 2023 and through November 30, DHS removed or returned over 400,000 individuals, including more than 65,000 individual family members. The vast majority of those removals and returns are from southwest border encounters. The total is also nearly the number removed and returned in all of fiscal year 2019 and exceeds the annual totals for each year 2015 – 2018. Daily removals and enforcement returns per day are nearly double what they were compared to the pre-pandemic average (2014-2019).
As a result of our comprehensive strategy, which has included the expansion of lawful, safe, and humane pathways combined with strengthened consequences and record levels of removals in recent months, U.S. Border Patrol encounter totals in fiscal year 2024 are lower than at this point in fiscal year 2023. In November 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol recorded 191,113 encounters between ports of entry along the southwest border. CBP’s total encounters along the southwest border in November were 242,418.
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 November 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol conducted 391 rescues.
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 November, CBP processed more than 43,000 individuals at ports of entry utilizing advanced information submitted in CBP One™.
Since the appointment scheduling function in CBP One™ was introduced in January 2023 through the end of November, nearly 360,000 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.
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 November 2023, 297,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans arrived lawfully under the parole processes. Specifically, more than 62,000 Cubans, more than 120,000 Haitians, more than 54,000 Nicaraguans, and more than 81,000 Venezuelans were vetted and authorized for travel; and over 60,000Cubans, 112,000 Haitians, 47,000 Nicaraguans, and 76,000 Venezuelans arrived and were granted parole.
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.
One example of a parcel targeted by CBP officers as part of Operation Apollo in November was a shipment from the People’s Republic of China of a tablet press used to manufacture pills of dangerous drugs that include fentanyl. Officers at the Los Angeles International Airport inspected the parcel and upon discovery of the tablet press referred it to Homeland Security Investigations. In fiscal year 2023, CBP seized more than 27,000 pounds of fentanyl, compared with over 14,600 pounds in fiscal year 2022. CBP’s fentanyl seizures in fiscal year 2023 increased more than 860% compared to fiscal year 2019.
Nationwide in November 2023, seizures of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and marijuana increased 35% from October. Seizures by weight increased as follows from October to November:
- Cocaine seizures increased 22%
- Methamphetamine seizures increased 55%
- Heroin seizures increased 7%
- Fentanyl seizures increased 8%
View more drug seizure statistics.
Facilitating Lawful Trade and Travel and Promoting Economic Security
With travel reaching record levels during the holiday season, travelers are encouraged to utilize CBP’s mobile apps to make their travel experience safe and easy. CBP’s Global Entry Mobile Application allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States before they enter the federal inspection area. Global Entry members can also use the new Global Entry Touchless Portals at nearly all international airports across the United States, expediting arrival processing by eliminating paper receipts and protecting passenger privacy. Travelers who are not Global Entry members may also opt for faster processing by using the free Mobile Passport Control application. For more travel tips, visit CBP’s Know Before You Go page.
As international travel rises, CBP continues to leverage technology to streamline efficiency and increase security at air and land ports of entry. Travelers arriving by air into the United States increased 14% from November 2022 to November 2023, and pedestrians arriving by land at ports of entry increased 8.6% over the same period. Passenger vehicles and commercial trucks processed at ports of entry increased 4.4%and 1.7% respectively from November 2022 to November 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 November 2023, CBP processed more than $2.7 million entry summaries valued at more than $268 billion, identifying estimated duties of nearly $6 billion to be collected by the U.S. government. In November, trade via the ocean environment accounted for 38% of the total import value, followed by air, truck, and rail.
During the holiday shopping season, 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. More information about CBP’s intellectual property rights enforcement is available on the Trade webpage.
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 November, CBP stopped 331 shipments valued at more than $125 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 November, CBP seized 1,607 shipments that contained counterfeit goods valued at more than $118 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 6,363 emergency action notifications for restricted and prohibited plant and animal products entering the United States in November 2023. CBP conducted 87,780 positive passenger inspections and issued 617 civil penalties and/or violations to the traveling public for failing to declare prohibited agriculture items.
View more agricultural enforcement statistics.
