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WASHINGTON – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released operational statistics today for May 2023, which show that more than half of the U.S. Border Patrol’s encounters in May occurred prior to the lifting of the CDC’s Title 42 Public Health Order. View the CBP Monthly Reports.
“As a result of comprehensive planning and preparation efforts, there has been a significant reduction in encounters along the Southwest border since the return to full Title 8 immigration enforcement on May 12. As we continue to execute our plans –including delivering strengthened consequences for those who cross unlawfully while expanding access to lawful pathways and processes– we will continue to monitor changes in encounter trends and adjust our response as necessary,” said Senior Official Performing the Duties of CBP Commissioner Troy A. Miller. “At the same time, CBP remained laser-focused on our national and economic security missions this month: managing increased passenger throughput at the start of a busy summer travel season and increasing seizures of dangerous drugs by 10% over April.”
CBP has been executing the Department’s comprehensive plan to secure our borders and build a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system. This includes providing meaningful consequences for those who enter without authorization, placing such individuals into expedited removal proceedings in record numbers and applying conditions on asylum eligibility through the new Circumvention of Lawful Pathways rule. Those who do not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States will be removed and are subject to a minimum 5-year bar on reentry as well as potential prosecution for repeated reentry. As a result, Southwest border encounters significantly declined in May.
In May 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol recorded 169,244 encounters between ports of entry along the Southwest border, a decrease of 25% from May 2022. The Office of Field Operations recorded 35,317 encounters at Southwest border ports of entry, including 28,696 individuals who presented with CBP One appointments. CBP’s total encounters along the Southwest border in May were 204,561, a decrease of 15% from May 2022.
More than half of the U.S. Border Patrol’s encounters in May occurred prior to the lifting of the CDC’s Title 42 public health Order. From May 1 – 11, U.S. Border Patrol encountered 98,850 individuals between ports of entry along the Southwest border. After the termination of the order as of 11:59 pm ET on May 11 through the end of the month on May 31, U.S. Border Patrol’s encounters between ports of entry along the Southwest border were 70,394.
CBP continues to enforce U.S. immigration law and apply consequences to those who enter without authorization and do not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States. With the Title 42 public health Order no longer in place, CBP is processing all individuals encountered at the border using its longstanding Title 8 authorities.
Under Title 8, those who attempt to enter the United States without authorization, and who are unable to establish a legal basis to remain in the United States, will be quickly removed. Individuals who have been removed under Title 8 are subject to additional long-term consequences beyond removal from the United States, including bars to admission and future immigration benefits. Individuals who cross unlawfully or arrive at a Port of Entry without a CBP One appointment are subject to the lawful pathways rule, which places common-sense conditions on asylum eligibility, with certain exceptions.
Among CBP’s 204,561 total Southwest border encounters in May 2023, encounters with single adults decreased by 6% compared to April 2023, encounters with unaccompanied children decreased by 13%, and encounters with family unit individuals increased by 5%.
CBP Nationwide Total Encounters for FY23TD through May: 2,096,346
Note: Unique encounters include persons not previously encountered in the prior 12 months.
Source: Office of Immigration Statistics analysis of CBP data.
CBP announced changes to the CBP One app in May to allow for scheduling of presentation for noncitizens seeking to be processed under Title 8 after May 11, 2023 and expanded to 1,000 available appointments per day in May. (Appointments were further expanded to 1,250 beginning June 1, which will be reflected in subsequent reporting). The CBP One application transitioned to a new daily appointment allocation scheduling process to allow for more flexibility and access to the scheduling system by making appointments available for 23 hours each day instead of at a designated time.
From January 12, when the scheduling function was introduced, until May 31, 2023, more than 106,000 individuals used the CBP One mobile application to schedule an appointment to present at a southwest border port of entry for inspection. The top nationalities that have scheduled an appointment are Haitian, Venezuelan, and Mexican. From May 1 to May 11, CBP ports of entry processed over 7,000 Title 42 exception requests under Title 42 using the CBP One application. From May 12 to May 31, CBP ports of entry processed over 20,000 individuals with an appointment scheduled through the CBP One application. Inadmissible noncitizens with an appointment are included in the overall Title 8 encounters number for the month of May. Scheduling an appointment in CBP One provides a safe, orderly, and humane process for noncitizens who may wish to claim asylum to access ports of entry rather than attempting to enter the United States irregularly. The CBP One app is also used to support the USCIS parole processes for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans.
One of CBP’s core mission objectives is to enhance the nation’s economic prosperity, including through the facilitation of lawful trade and travel. CBP continues to protect America’s national and economic security by facilitating legitimate trade while rigorously enforcing U.S. customs laws and regulations.
CBP tracks traveler numbers and wait times and continuously adjusts as needed to make the travel experience more efficient. Travelers can plan by doing the following:
CBP works diligently with the trade community and port operators to ensure that merchandise is cleared as efficiently as possible. CBP works with the trade community to strengthen international supply chains and improve border security. There are several programs by which CBP works with importers, carriers, consolidators, licensed customs brokers, and manufacturers to advance information about the shipments and expedite the inspection process at the ports of entry. CBP is available to conduct exams and is ready and willing to expand hours of operations if necessary to meet the growing demand for imported goods.
In May 2023, CBP processed more than $2.8 million entry summaries valued at more than $273 billion, identifying estimated duties of nearly $6.9 billion to be collected by the U.S. government. In May, trade via the ocean environment accounted for 42% of the total import value, followed by air, truck, and rail.
In May 2023, CBP stopped 460 shipments valued at more than $197 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. Trade in counterfeit and pirated goods threaten the competitiveness of U.S. businesses, the livelihoods of American workers, and the health and safety of consumers.
In May 2023, CBP seized 1,980 shipments that contained counterfeit goods valued at more than $216 million.
CBP completed 26 audits that identified $1 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 $3.9 million of this identified revenue and from previous fiscal years’ assignments.
As announced in a press release at the end of May, CBP and DHS partner agencies seized nearly 10,000 pounds of fentanyl over the course of two months as part of Operations Blue Lotus and Four Horsemen. These surge efforts to curtail the flow of illicit fentanyl smuggled into the United States from Mexico demonstrate CBP’s success in protecting American communities and disrupting the operations of transnational criminal organizations.
CBP officers, Border Patrol agents, and Air and Marine Operations agents continue to interdict the flow of illicit narcotics across the border. Nationwide, drug seizures (Cocaine, Methamphetamine, Heroin, Fentanyl, and Marijuana) by weight increased 10% in May compared to April. More than 90 percent of fentanyl is trafficked in cars and trucks through ports of entry.
CBP’s fentanyl seizures have increased more than 400 percent since fiscal year 2019 and our fiscal year 2023 seizures of fentanyl have already surpassed the fiscal year 2022 seizure total. CBP seized more than 19,800 pounds of fentanyl from October 2022 through May 2023 as compared with about 7,600 pounds from October 2021 through May 2022.
Additional CBP drug seizure statistics.
In May 2023, CBP agriculture specialists helped protect America’s agriculture, natural resources, and economic prosperity.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the comprehensive management, control, and protection of our nation’s borders, combining customs, immigration, border security, and agricultural protection at and between official ports of entry.
View a complete list of local and regional CBP social media accounts.
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