Texas Border Business
WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released operational statistics for August 2024. CBP monthly reporting can be viewed on CBP’s Stats and Summaries webpage.
“CBP continues to enforce the Securing the Border interim final rule and deliver strong consequences for illegal entry, and encounters between ports of entry remain at their lowest level in years,” said Troy A. Miller, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner. “Through the work of our dedicated personnel, this enhanced enforcement posture is meaningfully disrupting the operations of deadly transnational criminal organizations. In August, CBP’s counternarcotics surge efforts also led to the seizure of 30% more dangerous drugs than in July – keeping them out of our communities and enabling further enforcement against these criminal networks.”
Since the Presidential Proclamation and complementary Interim Final Rule (IFR) were announced on June 4, encounters between ports of entry have decreased by more than 50%. These executive actions have led to a significant increase in the percentage of migrants removed from the United States and a decrease in the number of people released pending their removal proceedings, as explained in recent DHS Fact Sheets from June and July.
Since the Presidential Proclamation and IFR went into effect on June 5, and through Sept. 10, DHS has removed or returned more than 131,000 individuals to more than 140 countries, including operating more than 400 international repatriation flights. In that period, DHS has almost tripled the percentage of noncitizens processed for Expedited Removal, and the percentage of releases pending immigration court proceedings is down nearly half. Total removals and returns over the past year exceed removals and returns in any fiscal year since 2010 and a majority of all southwest border encounters during the past three fiscal years resulted in a removal, return, or expulsion.
On the northern border, CBP’s expanded enforcement efforts in response to changing migration trends has yielded a reduction in encounters of more than 30% from June to August.
Below are key operational statistics for CBP’s primary mission areas in August 2024. View all CBP statistics online.
Enhancing Border Security and Managing Migration
CBP, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), continue to expeditiously process, remove, and strengthen consequences for individuals who cross our borders unlawfully. Individuals and families without a legal basis to remain in the U.S. are subject to removal pursuant to Title 8 authorities and are subject to a minimum five-year bar on admission as well as potential prosecution if they subsequently re-enter unlawfully. No one should believe the lies of smugglers. Migrants attempting to enter without authorization are subject to removal under Title 8 authorities. The fact remains: the United States continues to enforce immigration law, and expeditiously remove those without a legal basis to remain.
In August, the Border Patrol recorded about 58,000 encounters between ports of entry along the southwest border. The Border Patrol’s encounters in August were 68% lower than August 2023, keeping the Border Patrol on track to record the lowest number of annual apprehensions along the southwest border since fiscal year 2020, and lower than the monthly average for fiscal year 2019, the last comparable full fiscal year prior to the pandemic. Total southwest border irregular encounters in August, including individuals who presented at ports of entry without previously registering with CBP One, were about 63,000.
The United States is working together with our domestic and foreign partners to jointly disrupt irregular migration across our borders and monitor emerging threats, including national security or public safety concerns posed by transnational criminal organizations. We continue to conduct thorough screening and vetting for any individual that we encounter at our borders to identify individuals posing threats to public safety and national security.
The Presidential Proclamation and IFR have enhanced DHS’s capacity for enforcement against individuals who pose a threat to national security or public safety, such as gang members attempting to enter the country unlawfully, because the IFR renders those individuals ineligible for asylum and enables their quick removal. DHS has also returned more Border Patrol agents to the field to undertake front line border security operations, enhancing DHS efforts to interdict individuals who pose a threat to national security or public safety. These efforts continue to expand and maximize DHS enforcement against individuals who pose a threat to our communities.
Along with law enforcement partners worldwide, DHS is constantly monitoring new and emerging threats, including the threat posed by criminal organizations that could present a concern to national security or public safety. The Department conducts thorough screening and vetting for any individual that we encounter on the southern border who could be affiliated with these organizations. To identify individuals of concern, DHS uses a range of resources and information, including information shared by partners worldwide, to inform screening and vetting and to target such individuals attempting to come to United States. DHS works tirelessly to expand access to additional foreign records systems through new international agreements. DHS has also implemented enhanced screening measures at the border to identify known or suspected gang members, including members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Individuals confirmed or suspected to be gang members are referred for criminal prosecution and detention pending their removal from the United States.
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 August, the U.S. Border Patrol conducted 489 rescues, bringing the FY 2024 total to 4,988 rescues.
View more migration statistics and rescues statistics.
CBP One™ App
The CBP One™ mobile application is a key scheduling tool and part of DHS’s efforts to incentivize noncitizens to use lawful, safe, humane, and orderly pathways and processes. Noncitizens who cross between the ports of entry or who present themselves at a port of entry without making a CBP One™ appointment are generally subject to IFR that, consistent with the Presidential Proclamation, restricts asylum eligibility for those who irregularly enter across the southwest land and the southern coastal borders. DHS encourages migrants to utilize lawful processes, rather than taking the dangerous journey to cross unlawfully between the ports of entry, which also carries significant consequences under the United States immigration laws.
Migrants located in northern and central Mexico continue to be able to request and schedule appointments to present themselves at eight ports of entry along the southwest border. Additionally, non-Mexican migrants are now able to also request and schedule appointments from the states of Tabasco and Chiapas—enabling them to make appointments without having to travel all the way north to do so. Mexican nationals can now request and schedule an appointment from anywhere within Mexico. We consistently engage with our partners in the Government of Mexico and work together to adjust policies and practices in response to the latest migration trends and security needs. More information is available on the CBP One Mobile Application webpage.
Use of the CBP One™ app to schedule appointments at ports of entry has increased CBP’s capacity to process migrants in a more efficient and orderly manner while cutting out unscrupulous smugglers who endanger and profit from vulnerable migrants. The suspension and limitation on entry and IFR does not apply to noncitizens who use the CBP One™ mobile app to enter the United States at a port of entry in a safe and orderly manner to avail themselves to lawful processes.
In August, CBP processed approximately 44,700 individuals with advanced information submitted through CBP One™. Since the appointment scheduling function in CBP One™ was introduced in January 2023 through the end of August 2024, approximately 813,000 individuals have successfully scheduled appointments to present at ports of entry instead of risking their lives in the hands of smugglers. The top nationalities processed subsequent to arrival for their appointment are Venezuelan, Cuban, and Mexican.
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 are prioritized. CBP is continually monitoring and evaluating the application to ensure its functionality and guard against bad actors.
CHNV Parole Processes
DHS has resumed processing of new Advance Travel Authorizations (ATAs) in the parole processes for certain nationals of Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela (CHNV). As part of an internal review, DHS has implemented additional safeguards to the CHNV processes, incorporating rigorous enhanced vetting of US-based supporters, including biographic and biometric screening.
All CHNV beneficiaries continue to be thoroughly screened and vetted by CBP prior to their arrival to the United States and must meet other eligibility criteria authorization to travel to the United States in a safe, orderly, and lawful way once they purchase their own commercial airline tickets.
Through the end of August 2024, nearly 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans arrived lawfully on commercial flights and were granted parole under these processes. Specifically, more than 111,000 Cubans, nearly 214,000 Haitians, more than 96,000 Nicaraguans, and nearly 121,000 Venezuelans were vetted and authorized for travel; and more than 110,000 Cubans, more than 210,000 Haitians, nearly 93,000 Nicaraguans, and nearly 117,000 Venezuelans arrived lawfully and were granted parole.
Since DHS has implemented these safe, orderly and lawful processes, encounters of CHNV nationals in between POEs are down 99%.
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.
During FY 2024, through the end of August, CBP has seized over 19,600 pounds of fentanyl. CBP has caught more fentanyl nationwide in fiscal years 2023 and 2024 than ever before in history. We continue to optimize our intelligence and field operations to stop these deadly substances from reaching American communities.
Nationwide in August, seizures of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and marijuana (combined, by weight) increased 31% from July. This included a 113% increase in seizures of cocaine and an 84% increase in seizures of methamphetamine from July to August.
Additional CBP drug seizure statistics can be found on the Drug Seizure Statistics webpage.
Facilitating Lawful Trade and Travel
CBP encourages travelers to utilize mobile applications with technological enhancements to help speed up the travel process when entering the United States via air, land, or sea. Global Entry, for example, launched a new mobile app last year that allows members to complete their entry processing on their phones before even leaving the plane. The app can be downloaded from the Apple App store and Google Play, and is currently available for use at 47 airports, with more locations coming soon.
International travelers who are not Global Entry members can take advantage of the Mobile Passport Control (MPC) app, which allows travelers to submit their passport and travel information in advance with a mobile device, resulting in less congestion and more efficient processing. MPC is available at 51 ports of entry, including 14 Preclearance locations and four seaports. It can be used by all U.S. citizens, U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents, B1/B2 Canadian citizens, and returning Visa Waiver Program travelers. Non-U.S. citizens planning travel into the U.S. also have the option of using the Electronic System for Travel Authorization mobile app or the CBP One mobile app.
The number of travelers arriving by air into the United States increased 6.1% from August 2023 to August 2024; pedestrians arriving by land at ports of entry increased 8.3% over the same period; commercial trucks processed at ports of entry increased 2.7%; and passenger vehicles processed at ports of entry increased 2.2%.
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 August 2024, CBP processed more than 2.9 million entry summaries valued at more than $289 billion, identifying estimated duties of nearly $7.5 billion to be collected by the U.S. government. In August, trade via the ocean environment accounted for 41.8% of the total import value, followed by air, truck, and rail.
View more travel statistics, and trade statistics.
Protecting Consumers, Eradicating Forced Labor from Supply Chains, and Promoting Economic Security
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 August, CBP stopped 400 shipments valued at more than $53 million for further examination based on the suspected use of forced labor, and which may be subject to a Withhold Release order, Forced Labor Finding, or the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act’s rebuttable presumption, and prohibited importation into the United States under 19 U.S.C. § 1307.
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.
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 August, CBP seized 1,997 shipments that contained counterfeit goods valued at more than $993 million. More information about CBP’s intellectual property rights enforcement is available here.
Criminal groups are exploiting the explosive growth of e-commerce to sell not only counterfeit goods but also other illicit products and drugs, including fentanyl, through online platforms. CBP is working with DHS to move our 21st Century Customs Framework statutory package through an interagency review process. At the same time, we are working with Department of Treasury to ensure that CBP’s de minimis regulatory package enters interagency review. CBP needs to continue to modernize and enhance our facilities and tools to help our officers quickly and accurately determine which of the nearly 4 million daily de minimis packages need to be examined.
CBP completed 53 audits in August that identified $48.7 million in duties and fees owed to the U.S. government, stemming from goods that had been improperly declared in accordance with U.S. trade laws and customs regulations. CBP collected over $17.9 million of this identified revenue and from previous fiscal years’ assignments.
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 7,091 emergency action notifications for restricted and prohibited plant and animal products entering the United States in August 2024. CBP conducted 113,134 positive passenger inspections and issued 849 civil penalties and/or violations to the traveling public for failing to declare prohibited agriculture items.
View more agricultural enforcement statistics.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is America’s frontline: the nation’s largest law enforcement organization and the world’s first unified border management agency. The 65,000+ men and women of CBP protect America on the ground, in the air, and on the seas. We facilitate safe, lawful travel and trade and ensure our country’s economic prosperity. We enhance the nation’s security through innovation, intelligence, collaboration, and trust.
