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Courtesy U.S. Customs and Border Protection,

WASHINGTON — U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released operational statistics today for May 2023, which show that more than half of the U.S. Border Patrol’s encounters in May occurred prior to the lifting of the CDC’s Title 42 public health Order. CBP monthly reporting can be viewed online here.

“As a result of comprehensive planning and preparation efforts, there has been a significant reduction in encounters along the Southwest border since the return to full Title 8 immigration enforcement on May 12 As we continue to execute our plans –including delivering strengthened consequences for those who cross unlawfully while expanding access to lawful pathways and processes– we will continue to monitor changes in encounter trends and adjust our response as necessary,” said Senior Official Performing the Duties of CBP Commissioner Troy A. Miller. “At the same time, CBP remained laser-focused on our national and economic security missions this month: managing increased passenger throughput at the start of a busy summer travel season and increasing seizures of dangerous drugs by 10% over April.”

CBP Southwest Border Enforcement Numbers for May 2023

CBP has been executing the Department’s comprehensive plan to secure our borders and build a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system. This includes providing meaningful consequences for those who enter without authorization, placing such individuals into expedited removal proceedings in record numbers and applying conditions on asylum eligibility through the new Circumvention of Lawful Pathways rule. Those who do not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States will be removed and are subject to a minimum 5 year bar on reentry as well as potential prosecution for repeated reentry. As a result, Southwest border encounters significantly declined in May.

In May 2023, the U.S. Border Patrol recorded 169,244 encounters between ports of entry along the Southwest border, a decrease of 25% from May 2022. The Office of Field Operations recorded 35,317 encounters at Southwest border ports of entry, including 28,696 individuals who presented with CBP One appointments. CBP’s total encounters along the Southwest border in May were 204,561, a decrease of 15% from May 2022.

More than half of the U.S. Border Patrol’s encounters in May occurred prior to the lifting of the CDC’s Title 42 public health Order. From May 1 – 11, U.S. Border Patrol encountered 98,850 individuals between ports of entry along the Southwest border. After the termination of the order as of 11:59 pm ET on May 11 through the end of the month on May 31, U.S. Border Patrol’s encounters between ports of entry along the Southwest border were 70,394.

For the period from May 12 – 31, CBP averaged 3,500 U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) encounters in between ports of entry per day and 1,273 per day at ports of entry, which includes 1,043 CBP One Office of Field Operations (OFO) encounters at ports of entry per day.

CBP continues to enforce U.S. immigration law and apply consequences to those who enter without authorization and do not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States. With the Title 42 public health Order no longer in place, CBP is processing all individuals encountered at the border using its longstanding Title 8 authorities.

Under Title 8, those who attempt to enter the United States without authorization, and who are unable to establish a legal basis to remain in the United States, will be quickly removed. Individuals who have been removed under Title 8 are subject to additional long-term consequences beyond removal from the United States, including bars to admission and future immigration benefits. Individuals who cross unlawfully or arrive at a Port of Entry without a CBP One appointment are subject to the lawful pathways rule, which places common-sense conditions on asylum eligibility, with certain exceptions.

Among CBP’s 204,561 total Southwest border encounters in May 2023, encounters with single adults decreased by 6% compared to April 2023, encounters with unaccompanied children decreased by 13%, and encounters with family unit individuals increased by 5%.

Single Adults

Almost two-thirds (65%) of all Southwest land border encounters were single adults, with 133,097 encounters in May, a 6% decrease compared to April.
From May 1 – 11, 2023, CBP encounters with single adults totaled 71,816, compared with 61,281 encounters with single adults from May – 31, 2023. That represents a 53% decrease from an average of 6,529 encounters per day from May 1 – 11 to 3,064 encounters per day May 12 – 31.

Unaccompanied Children

Encounters of unaccompanied children decreased 13%, with 9,943 encounters in May compared with 11,455 in April. In May, the average number of unaccompanied children in CBP custody was 435 per day, compared with an average of 500 per day in April.
From May 1 – 11, 2023, CBP encounters with unaccompanied children totaled 4,474, compared with 5,469 encounters with unaccompanied children from May 12 – 31, 2023. That represents a 33% decrease from an average of 407 encounters per day from May 1 – 11 to 273 encounters per day May 12 – 31.

Family Unit individuals

Encounters of family unit individuals increased by 5% from 58,369 in April 2023 to 61,319 in May 2023—which is a 29% decrease from the peak of 86,631 in August 2021.
From May 1 – 11, 2023, CBP encounters with family unit individuals totaled 32,300, compared with 29,019 encounters with family unit individuals from May 12 – 31, 2023. That represents a 51% decrease from an average of 2,936 encounters per day from May 1 – 11 to 1,451 encounters per day May 12 – 31.

Title 42 Expulsions and Title 8 encounters

30,150 encounters, equal to 15% of total encounters in May, were processed for expulsion under Title 42 before the public health Order ended at 11:59 pm ET on May 11, 2023. 174,411 encounters were processed under Title 8 in May, including 78,559 Title 8 encounters from May 1 – 11, 2023, and 95,852 Title 8 encounters from May 12 – 31, 2023.
26,216 encounters involving single adults (20% of all single adult encounters) were processed for expulsion under Title 42 in May, with 106,881 single adults processed under Title 8 (80% of all single adult encounters). There were 45,600 Title 8 encounters with single adults from May 1 – 11, 2023, and 61,281 Title 8 encounters with single adults from May 12 – 31, 2023.
3,848 encounters involving family unit individuals (6% of all family unit individuals) were processed for expulsion under Title 42, with 57,471 processed under Title 8 (94% of all family unit individuals). There were 28,452 Title 8 encounters with family unit individuals from May 1 – 11, 2023, and 29,019 Title 8 encounters with family unit individuals from May 12 – 31, 2023.

Unique and Repeat Encounters

The number of unique individuals encountered by CBP along the Southwest border decreased 2% from 139,406 in April 2023 to 136,673 in May 2023.
Among CBP’s 204,561 overall encounters along the Southwest border in May 2023, 20% involved individuals who had at least one prior encounter in the previous 12 months, compared to an average one-year re-encounter rate of 14% for fiscal years 2014 – 2019.