Texas Border Business
WASHINGTON — U.S. Customs and Border Protection released monthly operational statistics today for September 2023. CBP continues to address increased migration flows as we enhance the security of our borders; disrupt the entry of dangerous people, drugs, and goods into the country; perform life-saving rescues; and protect our nation.
“In response to high rates of encounters across the southwest border in September, CBP surged resources and personnel. We are continually engaging with domestic and foreign partners to address historic hemispheric migration, including large migrant groups traveling on freight trains, and to enforce consequences including by preparing for direct repatriations to Venezuela,” said Troy A. Miller, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner. “CBP will continue to remain vigilant, making operational adjustments as necessary and enforcing consequences under U.S. immigration law. The supplemental funding request announced yesterday would provide critically needed additional resources including additional CBP agents and officers to support our essential missions: from border and migration management, to countering fentanyl and keeping dangerous drugs out of our communities.”
DHS continues to enforce United States immigration laws while strengthening the consequences for those who cross our border unlawfully. On October 5, DHS announced it would resume direct removals of Venezuelan nationals. On October 18, 130 citizens of Venezuela were removed on the first of these flights, as part of dozens of routine ICE removal flights conducted throughout the hemisphere and around the world every week. Noncitizens, including Venezuelan nationals, who lack a legal basis to stay in the United States are ordered removed, consistent with U.S. law. In the first two weeks of October, southwest border encounters have decreased by approximately 20% according to preliminary figures.
Below are key operational statistics for CBP’s primary mission areas in September 2023. View all CBP statistics online.
Ensuring Border Security and Managing Migration
CBP remains steadfast in enforcing our immigration laws, by continuing to increase operational capabilities as needed, deploying new technology projects, and fielding additional resources to support our border security mission and to act as a force multiplier for our agents and officers on the ground. We are actively combating the spread of disinformation by smugglers. We remain focused on decreasing the flow of fentanyl, which is primarily trafficked through ports of entry, and have stepped up our efforts to intercept the trafficking of chemical precursors used to produce fentanyl. We have added personnel to enhance border security, and we continue to work with foreign governments to ensure a regional approach to reducing irregular migration.
CBP is processing all noncitizens under Title 8 immigration authorities, and placing noncitizens who cross the border unlawfully into Expedited Removal or Section 240 Removal Proceedings. Noncitizens who cross between the ports of entry or who present themselves at a port of entry without making a CBP One™ appointment are subject to the Circumvention of Lawful Pathways rule. This rule presumes asylum ineligibility for those who fail to use lawful pathways, with certain exceptions.
Individuals and families without a legal basis to remain in the U.S. are subject to removal pursuant to CBP’s longstanding Title 8 authorities and are subject to a minimum five-year bar on reapplying for admission and potential criminal prosecution if they subsequently re-enter without authorization. In coordination with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, since May 2023, DHS has removed or returned over 300,000 individuals, including more than 45,000 individual family members. DHS has removed or returned more individual family members in the last four months than in any previous full fiscal year.
In September 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol recorded 218,763 encounters between ports of entry along the southwest border. CBP’s total encounters along the southwest border in September were 269,735.
CBP’s message for anyone who is thinking of entering the United States illegally along the southwest border 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 September 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol conducted 4,633 rescues, bringing the total number of rescues in FY 2023 from 32,690 at the end of August to 37,323 at the end of September. This significant rise in rescues – an increase of44%compared with rescues in August (3,212) and an increase of 67% compared with rescues in July (2,776) – is a testament to CBP’s commitment to border security, despite the lies of smugglers who mislead migrants for their own financial gain.
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, and orderly pathways and disincentivize attempts to cross between ports of entry. In September, the CBP Office of Field Operations (OFO) processed approximately 43,000 individuals with CBP One™ appointments at ports of entry.
Since the appointment scheduling function in CBP One™ was introduced in January 2023 through the end of September, nearly 278,000 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.
Safeguarding Communities by Interdicting Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs
CBP continues to interdict the flow of illicit narcotics and dangerous drugs across the border. CBP leads the federal government’s efforts to stop dangerous drugs like fentanyl and its precursors and analogs from entering the country.
To disrupt the supply chains used in the development and movement of fentanyl, CBP launched two new interagency operations in June: Operations Artemis and Rolling Wave. These efforts have built on the success of Operations Blue Lotus and Four Horsemen, which seized nearly 10,000 pounds of fentanyl in a two-month period.
In FY 2023, CBP seized more than 27,000 pounds of fentanyl, compared with over 14,600 pounds in FY 2022. CBP’s fentanyl seizures have increased more than 800% since fiscal year 2019. Nationwide in September, seizures of other dangerous drugs – cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and marijuana – increased 7% from August.
View more drug seizure statistics.
Facilitating Lawful Trade and Travel and Promoting Economic Security
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 17% from September 2022 to September 2023, and pedestrians arriving by land at ports of entry increased 13% over the same period. Passenger vehicles processed at ports of entry increased 7% from September 2022 to September 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 September 2023, CBP processed more than 2.7 million entry summaries valued at more than $271 billion. CBP identified nearly $6.6 billion of duties to be collected by the U.S. government. In September, trade via the maritime environment accounted for 41% of the total import value, followed by air, truck, and rail.
View more travel statistics, and trade statistics.
CHNV Parole Processes
Building upon the successful parole process established for Venezuelans in October 2022, the parole processes for nationals of Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua announced by President Biden on January 5, 2023, have significantly reduced irregular migration and denied smugglers the opportunity to exploit individuals who have instead benefited from the expansion of safe, orderly, and humane pathways.
Through the end of September 2023, over 240,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans arrived lawfully and were granted parole under the parole processes. Specifically, 52,053 Cubans, 96,445 Haitians, 44,298 Nicaraguans, and 73,092Venezuelans were vetted and authorized for travel; and 50,185 Cubans, 85,258Haitians, 38,070 Nicaraguans, and 66,893 Venezuelans arrived and were granted parole.
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 September, CBP stopped 259 shipments valued at more than $102 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 September, CBP seized 1,658 shipments that contained counterfeit goods valued at more than $280 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 6,034 emergency action notifications for restricted and prohibited plant and animal products entering the United States in September 2023. CBP conducted 94,464 positive passenger inspections and issued 616 civil penalties and/or violations to the traveling public for failing to declare prohibited agriculture items.
View more agricultural enforcement statistics.
