FY 18: 521,090 Apprehended, Turned Away at SW Border

October 23, 2018

In Fiscal Year (FY) 2018, the Border Patrol apprehended 396,579 illegal aliens between ports of entry on the Southwest border, an increase of 92,663 over FY 17. 124,511 people presenting themselves at ports of entry on that border were not allowed entry (i.e., deemed inadmissible) in FY 18, an increase of 12,910 over the previous fiscal year. The 521,090 total is 25 percent higher the FY 17 number (415,517) but considerably lower than the 553,378 recorded in FY 16.

The FY 18 numbers were driven by a record-shattering surge of family units. More than 161,000 family units were apprehended or deemed inadmissible. This was 42 percent higher than any previous year on record. In the last three months of FY 18, family unit apprehensions made up the highest percentage of total apprehensions in history. Unaccompanied alien children (UAC) apprehensions and inadmissibles totaled 58,660 in FY 2018, an increase of nearly 10,000 over FY 17.

The White House said “illegal immigration has shifted from primarily single adults from Mexico to family units and unaccompanied minors from Central America” who are encouraged by catch-and-release loopholes. In FY 2000, 98 percent of aliens apprehended were from Mexico, but more than half were from Central America in FY 18.

The White House also said that only about 1.4 percent of the family units from non-contiguous countries who arrived in FY 2017 had been repatriated as of June 30, 2018.

Officials called on Congress to repeal the loopholes in the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act and the Flores Settlement Agreement, which limits to 20 days the amount of time UACs or family units can be detained.