CBP Logs Busiest November On Record With Encounters At US Southern Border

Providing a monthly update of its border enforcement statistics, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported its personnel had logged some 242,418 encounters at the southern border in November. By comparison, CBP recorded 235,173 encounters at the southern border in November 2022, 74,845 in November 2021, and 72,113 in November 2020.

Historic CBP data indicates U.S. border officials had never logged more than 80,000 encounters in any given November prior to 2022.

Of the 242,418 encounters at the border this November, 191,113 resulted from U.S. Border Patrol agents encountering people crossing outside the established ports of entry, which is broadly illegal. Of the encounters CBP logged at lawful ports of entry, the agency said it processed more than 43,000 migrants into the United States with information they submitted through the CBP One mobile app.

Total drug seizures jumped 35 percent from October of this year to November, with border officials logging an eight percent increase in fentanyl seizures, a 22 percent increase in cocaine seizures, and a 55 percent increase in methamphetamine seizures.

To date, CBP has recorded 483,404 encounters since the start of the 2024 fiscal year. CBP said it has sent increased personnel and resources to address this continued border surge, “However, global migration remains historically high in the Western Hemisphere and around the world.”

In October, President Joe Biden proposed a $105 billion spending supplemental that would have tied about $14 billion in border and immigration-related spending, including funding to hire additional personnel along the border, as well as additional staffing to process asylum cases. That $14 billion would have attached to about $61 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine, about $14 billion in aid to Israel, and billions more to bolster other alliances and partnerships around the world.

Hopes of passing President Biden’s supplemental spending request by the end of the year stalled out, primarily over disagreements about border policy. Republicans have argued that only throwing money at the issue is the wrong approach because it doesn’t do enough to dissuade illegal border crossings and frivolous asylum claims. Republicans have instead called for policy changes to restrict when migrants can apply for asylum or receive a temporary entry into the United States. Republicans have also called for the adoption of legislation that resumes construction of border walls between ports of entry.

In remarks earlier this month, President Biden said “I am willing to make significant compromises on the border,” but congressional negotiators never reached a deal before leaving for the Christmas holiday.

The House adjourned last week while the Senate remained in session for another few days, trying to find a deal as negotiations came to a crawl for the holidays. In a joint statement on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said they had seen some “encouraging progress.” The Senate adjourned the following day still without a deal.

Any breakthrough will now have to wait at least until Congress reconvenes in the new year.