Edition: U.S. / Global

Americas

Increased Border Enforcement, With Varying Results


There are now more agents along the 1,954 mile-long border than ever before…
Border agents per sector.
Staffing has more than doubled in most of the nine sectors along the border, but the growth has not been uniform. Nearly 40 percent of the border staff in 2012 was in Tucson or El Paso, two sectors covering about 500 miles of the border with declining shares of immigrant traffic. They were among the main locations of illegal border crossings during the Mexican migration wave that peaked around 2005.
…and apprehensions along the border have dropped sharply …
Apprehensions per sector.
Overall, apprehensions have fallen as the number of people caught trying to cross the border illegally has declined sharply in recent years, largely because there were fewer people trying to cross the border in the first place. The recession was a factor. But criminal control on the Mexican side of the border and increased border patrol staffing increased the risks and cost of the trip, making it harder to cross successfully in recent years.
… but even in the most secure areas, some people still cross illegally.
Percentage who evaded capture after being detected by Border Patrols.
The Border Patrol has been estimating the number of migrants who successfully avoided capture after being detected, and official believes agents are catching a higher percentage now than in previous years. Due to differences in tracking by sector, the numbers are better for showing trends in a single sector, rather than comparing across sectors.
Related Multimedia
A Border Evolves as Washington Pursues Immigration Reform

Lawmakers have agreed in principle to provide a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants – provided the border is strengthened first. But what does a “secure border” mean exactly?

Readers Capture the Complexity of the U.S.-Mexican Border

Readers submitted their photographs showing just how diverse and inconsistent the barrier along the 2,000-mile divide can be.

A Border Transformed

Arizona’s boundary with Mexico was once considered the busiest border battlefront, and officials have declared that they will make a “last stand” there.