Customs Concept

The Department of Homeland Security has recently published a memo unveiling a webpage with a summary of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) enforcement actions related to inadmissibles, apprehensions, arrests of individuals with criminal convictions, and individuals who have been apprehended multiple times crossing the border illegally.

CBP is the nation’s largest federal law enforcement agency responsible for securing the nation’s borders and facilitating international travel and trade. Their top priority is to keep terrorists and their weapons from entering the United States. At the country’s more than 300 ports of entry, CBP officers have a complex mission with broad law enforcement authorities tied to screening all foreign visitors, returning American citizens and imported cargo that enters the U.S. Along the country’s borders, the U.S. Border Patrol and Air and Marine Operations are the uniformed law enforcement arms of CBP responsible for securing U.S. borders between ports of entry.

On a typical day in fiscal year 2016, U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended 1,140 individuals along the U.S. border, CBP officers logged 22 arrests of wanted criminals at ports of entry, CBP officers refused entry to 752 individuals who applied for admission at one of our ports of entry, and CBP officers and agents identified 877 individuals with suspected national security concerns.

Below is a summary of CBP enforcement actions related to inadmissibles, apprehensions, arrests of individuals with criminal convictions, and individuals who have been apprehended multiple times crossing the border illegally. Inadmissibles refers to individuals encountered at ports of entry who are seeking lawful admission into the United States but are determined to be inadmissible, individuals presenting themselves to seek humanitarian protections under our laws, and individuals who withdraw an application for admission and return to their countries of origin within a short timeframe. Apprehensions refer to the physical control or temporary detainment of a person who is not lawfully in the U.S. which may or may not result in an arrest.

For Fiscal Year 2017 YTD
Total Inadmissibles: 83,058
Total apprehensions: 170,326
Total enforcement actions: 253,384

For Fiscal Year 2016
Total Inadmissibles: 274,821
Total apprehensions: 415,816
Total enforcement actions: 690,637

For Fiscal Year 2015
Total Inadmissibles: 255,342
Total apprehensions: 337,117
Total enforcement actions: 592,459

If you have questions on immigrating to the United States, please contact our office to schedule a consultation with one of our attorneys today!