By: Bethany Blankley | The Center Square
More than 10 million people have been reported illegally entering the United States since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, the greatest number in history and of any administration.
They total more than the individual populations of 41 states.
The number of people illegally entering the country surged after Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas halted many preexisting border security policies, advanced sweeping parole and other policies to release the greatest number of illegal foreign nationals into the country, encouraged people from all over the world to use a phone app to enter the U.S., and facilitated U.S. entry application processes in foreign countries, among others.
Official U.S. Customs and Border Protection data includes 3,201,144 apprehensions in fiscal 2023; 2,766,582 in fiscal 2022; 1,956,519 in fiscal 2021; and 471,954 in the nine months Biden was in office in fiscal 2020.
CBP’s fiscal year is from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.
Combined, official apprehensions total 8,396,199.
They exclude gotaway data, which CBP does not report publicly. The Center Square has been reporting preliminary gotaway data solely reported by Border Patrol agents at the southwest border. The information is obtained from a Border Patrol agent who provides it and other information on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
Since January 2021, a minimum estimate of nearly 1.7 million gotaways have illegally entered the U.S.
Based on earlier projections and including Office of Field Operations data, former CBP chief Mark Morgan told The Center Square the gotaway data is likely to reach or exceed one million for fiscal 2023 alone.
In fiscal 2021, there were at least 308,655 known, reported gotaways; in fiscal 2022, 606,150 were reported. According to preliminary data obtained by The Center Square, Border Patrol agents reported at least 769,174 gotaways at the southwest border alone.
This number excludes OFO data, gotaway data at the northern border and other CBP ports of entry nationwide. The Center Square has not yet received total internal gotaway numbers.
However, even those are considered a best estimate because they exclude unknown and unreported gotaways, those who illegally enter undetected – meaning, the number is likely much higher. Law enforcement officials have said they have no idea how many gotaways there are in the U.S., or who or where they are.
Combined, the minimum estimated known, reported gotaways from Jan. 1, 2021, to Sept. 30, 2023 is at least 1,678,979.
Since January 2021, total illegal border crossers apprehended nationwide were 8,396,198. Combined with at least 1,678,979 gotaways, the number increases to over 10 million (at least 10,075,177).
This is greater than the individual populations of 41 states.
The only states with an estimated population greater than the number of illegal border crossers are California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia and North Carolina.
They edged ahead of Michigan’s estimated population of 10,030,722.
The total number of illegal border crossers during the period equates to 25% of California’s population, 33% of Texas’ population, 44% of Florida’s population and nearly 52% of New York’s population.
They’re equivalent to over 17 Wyomings; over 15 Vermonts; nearly 14 Alaskas; and nearly 13 North Dakotas. They total nearly ten Delawares, the home state of the president.
Among them are 1,586 known, suspected terrorists (KSTs) who were apprehended in fiscal years 2020-2023.
In fiscal 2023, CBP agents apprehended the greatest number of KSTs – 736 – in a single year in U.S. history.
They also apprehended the greatest number of criminal noncitizens in U.S. history, totaling nearly 50,000. This number excludes the tens of thousands of criminal noncitizens arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials and an unknown number arrested by local and state law enforcement officers.
