Although official border numbers for March are not expected until the middle of the month, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection source shared data that shows there were more than 189,000 encounters at the southwest border.
Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin posted on X that a CBP source had shared internal data from the southern border revealing that Border Patrol agents had arrested approximately 137,500 illegal aliens attempting to cross into the United States. This would make the number of encounters in March a new low since President Joe Biden took office—with the prior low being 163,672.
However, data also shows there were nearly 52,000 encounters at CBP ports of entry—which also includes illegal aliens being released into the country using the CBP One App. After adding the two numbers, the overall number of encounters at the southwest border would actually be around 189,400, which would be the third highest March since Biden took office—and is almost equivalent to the population of Brownsville.
In March of Fiscal Year 2023, there were 193,249 illegal alien encounters at the southwest border. In March of Fiscal Year 2022, there were 222,574 encounters.
Additionally, the CBP source confirmed to Melugin that there were more than 20,000 known gotaways, which are not included in the above numbers.
In Fiscal Year 2023, the number of encounters at the Southwest border hit a record high of 2.4 million individuals. Already in Fiscal Year 2024, border patrol agents have encountered more than 1.4 million illegal border crossers.
Texas has attempted to curb the flow of illegal aliens crossing the border by passing Senate Bill 4, which makes illegal entry a state crime that results in removal. However, the law has been placed on hold as it moves through the courts.
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