U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) today released operational statistics for January 2021, which can be viewed here.
Since early 2020, CBP has faced a growing number of individuals attempting to cross the southwest border, averaging about 3,000 arrests per day in January 2021.
“We continue to vigilantly perform our mission to secure our borders and enhance the nation’s economic prosperity by facilitating legitimate trade and travel,” said CBP Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner Troy Miller.
“While CBP continues to experience an increase in attempted monthly border crossings as seen since last April, the uptick seems to be occurring in a small fraction of locations across the southwest border, which is consistent with trends in years past,” said CBP Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner Troy Miller. “We continue to vigilantly perform our mission to secure our borders and enhance the nation’s economic prosperity by facilitating legitimate trade and travel. As we have said, there have been incredibly narrow and limited circumstances where individuals have come into the country awaiting for their hearing, but for now the vast majority have been turned away. This is not the time to come.”
CBP believes this increase is caused by several factors, including underlying crime and instability in migrants’ home countries, which have been exacerbated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and inaccurate perceptions of shifts in immigration and border security policies.
The vast majority of these encounters occur between official ports of entry. Further, the Border Patrol estimates that between March 20, 2020 and February 4, 2021, 38 percent of all encounters involved recidivism, or individuals who have been apprehended more than once.
CBP continues to facilitate lawful trade and travel to help protect our economic and national security, including by safeguarding Americans from illegal drugs, weapons, and counterfeit products. To execute its mission, CBP collaborates with federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners.
Executive Actions
CBP remains fully committed to implementing President Biden’s immigration and border security-related executive actions, including the pause of construction on the Border Wall System and adjusting its operations to enforce the proclamations related to travel and entry to the United States.
Inauguration Security
CBP supported the execution of another successful National Special Security Event (NSSE) – the 59th Presidential Inauguration, which was led by the U.S. Secret Service. CBP routinely contributes its unique capabilities during NSSEs and other large spectator or high-risk events.
During the 59th Presidential Inauguration, CBP contributed:
- Air and Marine Operations’ aircraft-based, downlink video streaming, which provides leadership on the ground with a real time common operating picture of conditions in a security zone. Downlink also provides a real-time damage assessment of impact areas, which assists state and local governments in prioritizing response areas during disasters;
- Air and Marine Operations’ aircraft and small boat crews to augment airspace and maritime security operations, and Border Patrol agents and Field Operations officers to supplement U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Capitol Police security details; and
- Office of Field Operations’ mobile non-intrusive inspection technology, which quickly scans vehicles and packages to identify and prevent potential threats from entering a security zone.
Facilitating Transport of Legitimate COVID-related Materials
CBP is working with interagency partners to expeditiously clear into the United States authorized pharmaceuticals, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and other imports needed for national COVID-19 response efforts, verifying that these imports are safe for use.
Since the pandemic began, CBP has seized a significant volume of COVID-related counterfeit materials with the potential to endanger health professionals and others who rely on authentic PPE. This month, CBP seized the following items, which either did not meet legal requirements for imports:
- Over 177,500 FDA-prohibited COVID-19 test kits in 409 incidents;
- 16 million counterfeit face masks in 534 incidents;
- 37,000 EPA-prohibited anti-virus lanyards in 118 incidents;
- 38,000 FDA-prohibited chloroquine tablets in 224 incidents; and
- 6,000 tablets of antibiotics, such as azithromycin, in 105 incidents.
Keeping CBP Personnel Safe – COVID-19 Employee Vaccinations
DHS is pursuing new and existing pathways to identify and prioritize COVID-19 vaccine allocations for frontline personnel, including by collaborating with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and coordinating with state and local authorities. CBP will continue to prioritize the wellbeing of our workforce and identify opportunities to expedite the delivery of vaccines to our personnel.
Law enforcement is a high-risk occupation. CBP leadership strongly encourages all personnel to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as possible in order to continue to safely fulfill the agency’s national security mission, while mitigating the spread of COVID-19 in the communities in which we live and serve.
CBP Enforcement Numbers
In January 2021, CBP’s enforcement encounters totaled nearly 78,000, a six percent increase since December 2020. These encounters include Accompanied Minors, Family Unit Aliens (FMUA), Single Adults, and Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC)/Single Minors encountered by U.S. Border Patrol and Office of Field Operations.
The number of Single Adult Mexican citizen encounters at the southwest border has remained high every month since April 2020, reaching more than 37,600 in January 2021, an about 119 percent increase from January 2020.
CBP enforcement numbers for January 2021 can be found here.
Drug Seizures
CBP officers, Border Patrol agents, and Air and Marine Operations agents continued to interdict the flow of illicit narcotics across the border. Nationwide, drug seizures decreased 24 percent in January 2021 from December 2020. Cocaine interceptions rose 40 percent; seizures of methamphetamine decreased 49 percent; and seizures of heroin and fentanyl decreased 47 percent and 23 percent, respectively.
Life-saving Rescues
CBP personnel continue to perform lifesaving rescues of individuals, regardless of their circumstance or status. Rescues increased in January 2021 from the month prior, with a total of 1,075 rescues nationwide as compared to 654 in December 2020. Between January 2020 and January 2021, CBP agents have rescued almost 6,800 individuals across various circumstances.
CBP personnel continue to perform lifesaving rescues of individuals, regardless of their circumstance or status. Rescues increased in January 2021 from the month prior, with a total of 1,075 rescues nationwide as compared to 654 in December 2020. Between January 2020 and January 2021, CBP agents have rescued almost 6,800 individuals across various circumstances.
“Those thinking about coming illegally to the U.S. need to understand that the journey is treacherous,” said Miller. “The trip through deserts and mountains on unforgiving remote terrain, or trying to cross swift, unpredictable waters, is dangerous. All too often our agents find human remains or encounter lost migrants who are ill, injured, and abandoned by smugglers. We’re also seeing migrants subjected to inhumane conditions locked in tractor trailers, car trunks, rail cars, and crowded stash houses. It’s incredibly dangerous, especially in the era of COVID.”
