Border Patrol agents encounter fewer migrants, but overall migration hits record high in FY23

SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — The U.S. Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector was one of only three along the entire southern border to show an increase in migrant-agent encounters between ports of entry for the fiscal year 2023, according to statistics released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The fiscal year ended on Sept. 30.

San Diego alone recorded a 31 percent increase in migrant encounters with 230,941. In fiscal year 2022, the figure was 176,290.

The two other sectors that reported increases were Tucson, which went from 251,984 encounters in 2022 to 373,625 in 2023, up 48%, and El Paso, which went up 39% from 307,844 to 427,471.

Borderwide, Border Patrol agents encountered migrants 2,045,838 times in 2023, down from 2,206,436 in 2022.

On the other hand, migrant encounters skyrocketed 149% at ports of entry, according to CBP data for the Office of Field Operations.

In recent weeks, agents have seen more and more migrants in the section along the ocean where a border wall project is underway, and in the mountains near the community of Jacumba, California.

In September, there were 26,609 encounters with migrants throughout the sector, up almost 8,000 from the previous month.

Border Patrol spokesman Agent Gerardo Gutierrez recently told Border Report that the San Diego sector had not been this busy in 20 years.