The number of undocumented immigrant crossings at the southwest border for fiscal year 2022 topped 2.76 million, breaking the previous annual record by more than 1 million, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
For the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2022, CBP stopped migrants more than 2,766,582 times, compared to 1.72 million times for fiscal 2021, the previous yearly high. The 2022 numbers were driven in part by sharp increases in the number of Venezuelans, Cubans and Nicaraguans making the trek north, according to CBP.
Because of Covid restrictions that have caused officials to return border crossers to Mexico, many individuals make “multiple border crossing attempts, which means that total encounters somewhat overstate the number of unique individuals arriving at the border,” said CBP in a statement.
In September, there were 227,547 encounters along the border, up 12 percent compared to August. Just under 20 percent involved individuals who had already attempted to cross at least once in the preceding year. In September 2021, there were 192,001 encounters at the border.
CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said that in October, the number of Venezuelans trying to cross the border has fallen sharply due to increased cooperation with Mexico. “Over the past week, the number of Venezuelans attempting to enter the country fell more than 80 percent compared to the week prior to the launch of the joint enforcement actions,” said Magnus.
