U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has released operational statistics for June 2024.
According to CBP, the numbers show a significant decline in migrant encounters across the southern border. Border Patrol encounters between ports of entry were 29 per cent lower than in May of 2024 and were the lowest monthly total for the Border Patrol along the southwest border since January 2021.
A CBP interim final rule issued in June that generally restricts asylum eligibility for those who irregularly enter across the southwest land and coastal border also led to a decrease in the number of encounters by more than 50 per cent.
In June, the U.S. Border Patrol recorded 83,500 encounters between ports of entry along the southwest border, 29 per cent lower than in May of 2024.
Nationwide in June, seizures of cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl, and marijuana combined by weight decreased by 17 per cent compared to May 2024. In June, nationwide, heroin seizures increased by 47 per cent, compared to may and seizures of cocaine increased by 13 per cent. To date in Fiscal Year 2024, CBP has seized over 15,000 pounds of fentanyl.