Migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border hit a record high at the end of 2023
The U.S. Border Patrol had nearly 250,000 encounters with migrants crossing into the United States from Mexico in December 2023.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
The U.S. Border Patrol had nearly 250,000 encounters with migrants crossing into the United States from Mexico in December 2023.
Just 23% of Americans say the government is doing a good job dealing with the large number of people seeking asylum at the border, while 73% say it’s doing a bad job.
The U.S. population grew by 24.5 million from 2010 to 2022, and Hispanics accounted for 53% of this increase.
The number of international migrants grew to 281 million in 2020; 3.6% of the world’s people lived outside their country of birth that year.
The U.S. Border Patrol reported more than 1.6 million encounters with migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border in the 2021 fiscal year.
An estimated 870,000 Mexican migrants came to the U.S. between 2013-18, while an estimated 710,000 left the U.S. for Mexico during that time.
U.S. Border Patrol agents expelled or apprehended 15,862 migrants at the southwest border in April, down 47% from March.
While Mexico is the United States’ largest source of immigrants, the number of Mexican immigrants living in the U.S. illegally has declined since 2007.
Mexico has apprehended and deported more migrants within its borders so far this fiscal year than at the same point in fiscal 2018.
Amid tense relations between the U.S. and Mexico, one of the factors affecting the way Mexicans and Americans view each other is proximity to the border.
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