At least 135,481 foreign nationals were apprehended or reported evading capture after illegally entering the southwest border in June, according to preliminary data obtained by The Center Square.
“Gotaways” is the official U.S. Customs and Border Protection term that refers to the number of people who are known and reported to illegally enter the U.S. between ports of entry who intentionally try to evade capture by law enforcement and don’t return to Mexico. In June, gotaways totaled at least 32,840, with the greatest numbers reported in the Tucson and El Paso sectors, as they have nearly every month this year.
CBP doesn’t publicly report gotaway data. The data was obtained by The Center Square from a U.S. Border Patrol agent who provided it on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. It only includes Border Patrol data and excludes Office of Field Operations data. Total numbers would be higher if OFO data were included.
The numbers are significantly lower than previous months because the Biden administration is shifting illegal entry to the ports of entry, former acting CBP Chief and former Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan told The Center Square. “As Border Patrol apprehensions go down [between ports of entry], the encounters at Office of Field Operations are skyrocketing,” he said. “There were over 90,000 OFO apprehensions in April. June will be higher.
