Overall illegal border encounters are dropping but the number of those trying to enter from certain countries are going up.
According to a press release from the U.S. Border Patrol, the total number of encounters along the southwest border is 1.69 million for Fiscal Year 2024, which dates back to October 2023. 170,723 total encounters IS the lowest number for May in recent years.
U.S. Border Patrol also said they recorded 117,900 encounters at the southwest border at ports of entry last month. CBP’s Office of Field Operations recorded nearly an additional 53,000 encounters at ports of entry in May too.
Total encounters in May of 2021 were 180,597, followed by 241,136 the following year and 206,690 in May 2023.
The reported number of South American aliens including Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans who are arriving by plane and being granted parole has increased by almost 30,000 since before the month of April. The total number of aliens from those countries was 434,800. Now, it's 462,100 after just one month.