How many people are stopped at the US southwest border each year, and how has it changed since 1925?

In fiscal year 2025, the US Border Patrol recorded 237,538 apprehensions at the southwest border, fewer than in any year since FY1970 (201,780) and 84.5% fewer than in FY2024 (1,530,523); its highest year since 1960 was FY2022 (2,206,436, Title 42 expulsions included). Counting people found inadmissible at ports of entry, southwest border encounters were 443,671 in FY2025. Nationwide, Border Patrol apprehensions were 254,183 in FY2025, compared with 22,199 in FY1925 and 2,214,652 in FY2022, Title 42 expulsions included. Each count is of events: a person caught more than once is counted each time.

Choose a figure

Border Patrol apprehensions at the southwest border, FY2025

237,538

Border Patrol apprehensions (Title 42 expulsions included 2020-2023) at the southwest border; events, not people, Fiscal year 2025

Moderate trust, 63 of 100 Only CBP counts: OHSS republishes it, so there is nothing independent to check it against.

Each source by year: Border Patrol apprehensions (Title 42 expulsions included 2020-2023) at the southwest border; events, not people

CBP
OHSS

Recorded change in how a source reports; hover or focus the ring for details.

Show the data as a table

Year	CBP, U.S. Border Patrol and Nationwide Encounters statistics	OHSS, Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2023, Table 35
1960	21,022	–
1961	21,745	–
1962	21,103	–
1963	29,644	–
1964	32,519	–
1965	40,020	–
1966	62,640	–
1967	73,973	–
1968	96,641	–
1969	137,968	–
1970	201,780	–
1971	263,991	–
1972	321,326	–
1973	441,066	–
1974	571,606	–
1975	512,264	–
1976	607,499	–
1977	733,193	–
1978	789,441	–
1979	795,798	–
1980	690,554	–
1981	749,808	–
1982	745,820	–
1983	1,033,974	–
1984	1,058,276	–
1985	1,183,351	–
1986	1,615,844	–
1987	1,122,067	–
1988	942,561	–
1989	852,506	–
1990	1,049,321	–
1991	1,077,876	–
1992	1,145,574	–
1993	1,212,886	–
1994	979,101	–
1995	1,271,390	–
1996	1,507,020	–
1997	1,368,707	–
1998	1,516,680	–
1999	1,537,000	–
2000	1,643,679	–
2001	1,235,718	–
2002	929,809	–
2003	905,065	–
2004	1,139,282	–
2005	1,171,396	–
2006	1,071,972	–
2007	858,638	–
2008	705,005	–
2009	540,865	–
2010	447,731	–
2011	327,577	–
2012	356,873	–
2013	414,397	–
2014	479,371	479,370
2015	331,333	331,330
2016	408,870	408,870
2017	303,916	303,920
2018	396,579	396,580
2019	851,508	851,510
2020	400,651	400,650
2021	1,659,206	1,659,210
2022	2,206,436	2,206,440
2023	2,045,838	2,045,840
2024	1,530,523	–
2025	237,538	–

What this number counts

Counts: Apprehensions of people between ports of entry by the US Border Patrol in the southwest border sectors, plus Title 42 expulsions from March 2020 to May 2023; a person caught more than once is counted each time
Where: United States, southwest land border (border with Mexico)
When: Fiscal year 2025 (1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025). Fiscal years are stored under the year they end; until FY1976 the fiscal year ran 1 July to 30 June. (one year, not an average)

The figure from CBP, the only source that counts here.

Where the number comes from (2 sources)

Source	Figure and year	Definition	Quality	Counts for
CBP, U.S. Border Patrol and Nationwide Encounters statisticsU.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security · Administrative recordsRetrieved 2026-10-27 · Data (CSV file)	237,5382025	Border Patrol apprehensions between ports of entry in the nine southwest border sectors (Big Bend, Del Rio, El Centro, El Paso, Laredo, Rio Grande Valley, San Diego, Tucson, Yuma), including Title 42 expulsions from March 2020 to May 2023. FY1960-FY2019 from CBP's sector table (PDF, column "Southwest Border Total"); FY2020 onward summed from CBP's encounters CSV, which reproduces the PDF's FY2020 total exactly. The FY2025 value is from the file published in November 2025; the September 2026 file gives the same total. FY2026 to date (first 11 months, from the September 2026 CSV): 89,760 Border Patrol apprehensions and 128,009 encounters at the southwest border.	4 of 5 checks Yes: Method and definitions published. CBP publishes definitions of apprehensions, inadmissibles and expulsions and a data dictionary for its encounter files. Yes: Official statistics or peer-reviewed. Official administrative statistics of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Department of Homeland Security). Yes: Full count or representative sample. Counts every encounter recorded in CBP's systems (EID, SIGMA, Unified Secondary), not a sample. Yes: Raw data downloadable. Monthly records downloadable as CSV from FY2020; FY1925-FY2019 only as CBP PDF tables. No: No known break or quality problem. Counts events, not people (a person caught several times counts each time); Title 42 expulsions are included from March 2020 to May 2023; CBP revises counts drawn from live systems.	100%
OHSS, Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2023, Table 35Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS), Department of Homeland Security · Administrative recordsRetrieved 2026-10-27 · Data (Excel file)	2,045,8402023	Table 35, row "Southwest sectors": Border Patrol apprehensions including Title 42 expulsions, FY2014-FY2023, rounded to the nearest ten. OHSS builds these from CBP's own records, so this is the same data collection as the CBP line. Table note: Notes: To protect privacy, table cells are rounded to the nearest ten. The totals may not sum due to rounding. Data include USBP apprehensions, OFO inadmissibility determinations, HSI administrative arrests, and ERO administrative arrests. OFO inadmissibility determinations in this table only include enforcement encounters, reflecting attempted unlawful entries into the United States. FY 2020-2023 data include CBP encounters resulting in expulsions on public health grounds under U.S. Code Title 42 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.	4 of 5 checks Yes: Method and definitions published. Notes to Table 35 and the OHSS glossary define each count. Yes: Official statistics or peer-reviewed. Official statistics of the DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics. Yes: Full count or representative sample. Built from all CBP encounter records, not a sample. Yes: Raw data downloadable. Downloadable as an Excel workbook. No: No known break or quality problem. Rounded to the nearest ten; counts events, not people; includes Title 42 expulsions in FY2020-FY2023.	Not counted

Better and more direct sources count for more. A source that only copies another does not count.

CBP 100%

CBP100%

Shown but not counted: OHSS (republishes CBP).

How the trust score was worked out

Quality32 / 40: How well the sources are made
Agreement15 / 30: Unknown with one source, so set to half
Independence6 / 20: How many separate ways the number was measured
Freshness10 / 10: How recent the newest data is

How the score works

Who reports it, and since when

Which kinds of source measure this number, which years each one published, and where the reporting stops or has holes.

Administrative records · 2

No source of these kinds: population register, model-based estimate.

Single source: nothing to check it against
CBP, 2020: CBP reports "encounters" from FY2020: Border Patrol Title 8 apprehensions, OFO Title 8 inadmissibles and all Title 42 expulsions. Its FY1925-FY2020 Border Patrol table is titled "Nationwide Encounters" and counts apprehensions before March 2020. source
CBP, 2020: CBP counts Title 42 expulsions together with Title 8 apprehensions from March 2020 ("Beginning in March FY20, USBP encounters statistics include both Title 8 apprehensions and Title 42 expulsions"). Title 42 expulsions ran from 21 March 2020 to 11 May 2023. source
CBP, 2023: Title 42 expulsions ended on 11 May 2023; from then all encounters are processed under Title 8. source
OHSS, 2020: CBP counts Title 42 expulsions together with Title 8 apprehensions from March 2020 ("Beginning in March FY20, USBP encounters statistics include both Title 8 apprehensions and Title 42 expulsions"). Title 42 expulsions ran from 21 March 2020 to 11 May 2023. source

Years each source has a figure here

'01'05'10'15'20'25CBPOHSS

figure no figure here, inside its range no later figure recorded change

Border Patrol apprehensions nationwide, FY2025

254,183

Border Patrol apprehensions nationwide (Title 42 expulsions included 2020-2023); events, not people, Fiscal year 2025

Moderate trust, 63 of 100 Only CBP counts: OHSS republishes it, so there is nothing independent to check it against.

Each source by year: Border Patrol apprehensions nationwide (Title 42 expulsions included 2020-2023); events, not people

CBP
OHSS

Recorded change in how a source reports; hover or focus the ring for details.

Show the data as a table

Year	CBP, U.S. Border Patrol and Nationwide Encounters statistics	OHSS, Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2023, Table 35
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	1,103,353	–
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	486,650
2015	337,117	337,120
2016	415,816	415,820
2017	310,531	310,530
2018	404,142	404,140
2019	859,501	859,500
2020	405,036	405,040
2021	1,662,167	1,662,170
2022	2,214,652	2,214,650
2023	2,063,692	2,063,690
2024	1,557,319	–
2025	254,183	–

What this number counts

Counts: Apprehensions by the US Border Patrol in all sectors (southwest, northern and coastal), plus Title 42 expulsions from March 2020 to May 2023; a person caught more than once is counted each time
Where: United States, all Border Patrol sectors
When: Fiscal year 2025 (1 October 2024 to 30 September 2025). Fiscal years are stored under the year they end; until FY1976 the fiscal year ran 1 July to 30 June. (one year, not an average)

The figure from CBP, the only source that counts here.

Where the number comes from (2 sources)

Source	Figure and year	Definition	Quality	Counts for
CBP, U.S. Border Patrol and Nationwide Encounters statisticsU.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security · Administrative recordsRetrieved 2026-10-27 · Data (CSV file)	254,1832025	All Border Patrol apprehensions nationwide (southwest, northern and coastal sectors), including Title 42 expulsions from March 2020 to May 2023. FY1925-FY2019 from CBP's PDF table; FY2020 onward summed from CBP's encounters CSV (Component "U.S. Border Patrol", all regions), which reproduces the PDF's FY2020 total exactly.	4 of 5 checks Yes: Method and definitions published. CBP publishes definitions of apprehensions, inadmissibles and expulsions and a data dictionary for its encounter files. Yes: Official statistics or peer-reviewed. Official administrative statistics of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (Department of Homeland Security). Yes: Full count or representative sample. Counts every encounter recorded in CBP's systems (EID, SIGMA, Unified Secondary), not a sample. Yes: Raw data downloadable. Monthly records downloadable as CSV from FY2020; FY1925-FY2019 only as CBP PDF tables. No: No known break or quality problem. Counts events, not people (a person caught several times counts each time); Title 42 expulsions are included from March 2020 to May 2023; CBP revises counts drawn from live systems.	100%
OHSS, Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2023, Table 35Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS), Department of Homeland Security · Administrative recordsRetrieved 2026-10-27 · Data (Excel file)	2,063,6902023	Table 35, row "CBP U.S. Border Patrol (USBP)": Border Patrol apprehensions including Title 42 expulsions, FY2014-FY2023, rounded to the nearest ten. OHSS builds these from CBP's own records, so this is the same data collection as the CBP line. Table note: Notes: To protect privacy, table cells are rounded to the nearest ten. The totals may not sum due to rounding. Data include USBP apprehensions, OFO inadmissibility determinations, HSI administrative arrests, and ERO administrative arrests. OFO inadmissibility determinations in this table only include enforcement encounters, reflecting attempted unlawful entries into the United States. FY 2020-2023 data include CBP encounters resulting in expulsions on public health grounds under U.S. Code Title 42 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.	4 of 5 checks Yes: Method and definitions published. Notes to Table 35 and the OHSS glossary define each count. Yes: Official statistics or peer-reviewed. Official statistics of the DHS Office of Homeland Security Statistics. Yes: Full count or representative sample. Built from all CBP encounter records, not a sample. Yes: Raw data downloadable. Downloadable as an Excel workbook. No: No known break or quality problem. Rounded to the nearest ten; counts events, not people; includes Title 42 expulsions in FY2020-FY2023.	Not counted

Better and more direct sources count for more. A source that only copies another does not count.

CBP 100%

CBP100%

Shown but not counted: OHSS (republishes CBP).

How the trust score was worked out

Quality32 / 40: How well the sources are made
Agreement15 / 30: Unknown with one source, so set to half
Independence6 / 20: How many separate ways the number was measured
Freshness10 / 10: How recent the newest data is

How the score works

Who reports it, and since when

Which kinds of source measure this number, which years each one published, and where the reporting stops or has holes.

Administrative records · 2

No source of these kinds: population register, model-based estimate.

Single source: nothing to check it against
CBP, 1976: The federal fiscal year end moved from 30 June to 30 September. OHSS Yearbook Table 33 counts the 15 months from 1 July 1975 to 30 September 1976 in 1976; CBP's Border Patrol table does not say how it treats the three-month transition period. source
CBP, 2020: CBP reports "encounters" from FY2020: Border Patrol Title 8 apprehensions, OFO Title 8 inadmissibles and all Title 42 expulsions. Its FY1925-FY2020 Border Patrol table is titled "Nationwide Encounters" and counts apprehensions before March 2020. source
CBP, 2020: CBP counts Title 42 expulsions together with Title 8 apprehensions from March 2020 ("Beginning in March FY20, USBP encounters statistics include both Title 8 apprehensions and Title 42 expulsions"). Title 42 expulsions ran from 21 March 2020 to 11 May 2023. source
CBP, 2023: Title 42 expulsions ended on 11 May 2023; from then all encounters are processed under Title 8. source
OHSS, 2020: CBP counts Title 42 expulsions together with Title 8 apprehensions from March 2020 ("Beginning in March FY20, USBP encounters statistics include both Title 8 apprehensions and Title 42 expulsions"). Title 42 expulsions ran from 21 March 2020 to 11 May 2023. source

Years each source has a figure here

'01'05'10'15'20'25CBPOHSS

figure no figure here, inside its range no later figure recorded change

Southwest land border encounters by type (encounters, FY2020-FY2025)

Each line is the source that counts most for that group.

All encounters
Border Patrol Title 8 apprehensions
Title 42 expulsions
OFO Title 8 inadmissibles at ports of entry

Group	Figure	Year	Trust
All encounters	443,671	2025	63 Moderate
Border Patrol Title 8 apprehensions	237,538	2025	63 Moderate
Title 42 expulsions	0	2025	63 Moderate
OFO Title 8 inadmissibles at ports of entry	206,133	2025	63 Moderate

Show every year as a table

Year	All encounters	Border Patrol Title 8 apprehensions	Title 42 expulsions	OFO Title 8 inadmissibles at ports of entry
2020	458,088	203,608	204,787	49,693
2021	1,734,686	618,986	1,063,526	52,174
2022	2,378,944	1,152,352	1,079,507	147,085
2023	2,475,669	1,496,067	564,380	415,222
2024	2,135,005	1,530,523	0	604,482
2025	443,671	237,538	0	206,133

Citizenship in Border Patrol southwest border apprehensions (% of apprehensions, FY2007-FY2025)

Each line is the source that counts most for that group.

Mexico
All other citizenships

Group	Figure	Year	Trust
Mexico	47.18	2025	63 Moderate
All other citizenships	52.82	2025	63 Moderate

Show every year as a table

Year	Mexico	All other citizenships
2007	93.24	6.76
2008	92.63	7.37
2009	91.63	8.37
2010	88.63	11.37
2011	85.65	14.35
2012	73.51	26.49
2013	64.05	35.95
2014	47.31	52.69
2015	56.14	43.86
2016	46.66	53.34
2017	42.1	57.9
2018	38.39	61.61
2019	19.55	80.45
2020	63.18	36.82
2021	36.65	63.35
2022	33.48	66.52
2023	28.31	71.69
2024	32.82	67.18
2025	47.18	52.82

About this data

Every source on this page (2)

Who is behind the sources

100% Police or justice agency
Statistics office: shown, not counted

Each publisher, its funding and its own description

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) · Police or justice agencyFunding: U.S. federal budget, through the Department of Homeland Security, plus user fees on travel and trade. sourceIn its own words: “Protect the American people, safeguard our borders and enhance the nation’s economic prosperity.” source, retrieved 2026-10-27
Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS), DHS · Statistics office, shown but not counted hereFunding: U.S. federal budget, through the Department of Homeland Security. sourceIn its own words: “Our mission is to foster transparency and data-driven homeland security decision-making…” source, retrieved 2026-10-27

CBP, U.S. Border Patrol and Nationwide Encounters statisticsU.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) (police or justice agency) · Administrative recordsUsed for 8 numbers; counts toward 8. Years 2025. Retrieved 2026-10-27.Data (CSV file)
OHSS, Yearbook of Immigration Statistics 2023, Table 35Office of Homeland Security Statistics (OHSS), DHS (statistics office) · Administrative recordsUsed for 2 numbers; counts toward 0 (shown only). Years 2023. Retrieved 2026-10-27.Not counted where: it republishes CBP.Data (Excel file)

Why the numbers differ (4)

Border Patrol apprehensions count people caught between ports of entry; the encounters total also counts people found inadmissible by CBP officers at ports of entry, so it is always higher than the Border Patrol count for the same year.
OHSS rebuilds CBP's records in its own statistical system and rounds every cell to the nearest ten. For FY2023 its Table 35 shows 2,045,840 southwest and 2,063,690 nationwide Border Patrol apprehensions against CBP's 2,045,838 and 2,063,692 (+0.0% and -0.0%). It is the same data, not a second count. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
OHSS Yearbook Table 33 ("DHS initial enforcement actions", FY1925 onward) is a different and larger number: it equals Border Patrol apprehensions only before 1952, then adds ICE administrative arrests and, from 2012, OFO enforcement encounters. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
Sector names changed over time (Big Bend was Marfa, Rio Grande Valley was McAllen); CBP's tables give the current names for all years, so the southwest total is not affected.

Common mistakes (3)

Reading apprehensions or encounters as a number of people. OHSS: "We count people encountered more than once during a reporting period multiple times." (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
Comparing FY2020-FY2023 with other years without noting that Title 42 expulsions are counted alongside Title 8 apprehensions in those years. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
Reading encounters as entries. An encounter can end in expulsion, removal, return, detention or release, and people who cross without being caught are not in these counts.

Context (4)

Sources considered and not used (5)

CBP encounters for FY2026: The fiscal year is not complete in CBP's files: the newest CSV covers 11 months. Year-to-date figures are in the notes of the southwest lines. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
OHSS Key Homeland Security Metrics, CBP encounters files: Built from the same CBP records, so not an independent line, and the newest file on the page ends in August 2025 (fy25m11), before the end of the fiscal year. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
OHSS Immigration Enforcement and Legal Processes Monthly Tables: Built from the same CBP records; the newest file listed covers data through November 2024. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
OHSS Yearbook Table 33 (DHS initial enforcement actions): A broader count than Border Patrol apprehensions: it adds ICE administrative arrests from 1952 and OFO enforcement encounters from 2012. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)
Citizenship of southwest border apprehensions before FY2007: CBP's published citizenship-by-sector tables start in FY2007; no earlier fiscal-year table by citizenship was found on CBP's site. (source, retrieved 2026-10-27)

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Cite as: RealStats, “How many people are stopped at the US southwest border each year, and how has it changed since 1925?”, updated 2026-10-27, with the original sources listed on the page. Scores use formula version 1.0.
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