Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal border crossers in Texas dropped 51% in one year, according to federal data. The stark decline comes after Gov. Greg Abbott expanded Operation Lone Star border security efforts in the state.
In fiscal 2023, Border Patrol agents reported 1,045,655 apprehensions of illegal border crossers in five U.S. Customs and Border Protection sectors in Texas, excluding those apprehended in New Mexico which fall into one of these sectors, in fiscal 2023. In fiscal 2024, the number dropped to 534,333, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data and exclusive data obtained by The Center Square.
The totals are also slightly higher than what The Center Square first reported last month.
The data is from the CBP sectors of Big Bend, El Paso, Del Rio, Laredo and Rio Grande Valley. El Paso’s sector includes two west Texas counties and all of New Mexico; Big Bend’s includes 77 counties and all of Oklahoma.
It excludes Office of Field Operations data from ports of entry and gotaway data. Gotaways are those who illegally enter and evade capture. CBP doesn’t publicly report this data. The Center Square first began reporting it in 2021 after receiving it from a Border Patrol agent.
In fiscal 2023, nearly 450,000 gotaways and more than 1.48 million apprehensions were reported in CBP sectors in Texas, surpassing 1.9 million, The Center Square exclusively reported. Fiscal 2024 gotaway data is forthcoming.
Since then, The Center Square obtained a breakdown of apprehensions in New Mexico in the El Paso Sector of 170,846 in fiscal 2023 and 137,002 in fiscal 2024.
When comparing Border Patrol data alone, there were 511,322 fewer apprehensions in Texas year over year, representing a 51% drop.
The drop occurred after Abbott in January 2023 hired Texas’ first border czar, a retired Border Patrol supervisor, Mike Banks, who implemented a “PDI strategy” (position, deter and interdict), The Center Square first reported. Within one year, Texas resistance grew and illegal entries increased in New Mexico, Arizona and California, The Center Square first reported.
By CBP sector, the El Paso Sector reported the greatest number of Border Patrol apprehensions in fiscal 2024 of 256,102, with more than half reported in New Mexico.
The sector shares 268 international border miles with Mexico and spans 125,500 square miles, with nearly all, 121,000 square miles, in New Mexico.
As illegal entries skyrocketed in New Mexico, its Democratic governor refused to work with Abbott and 25 governors sending resources in support of OLS. Last year, Texas for the first time built border barriers along its shared state line with New Mexico, The Center Square first reported. Illegal entries in New Mexico surged to the point that Republican state lawmakers came to Texas to learn how they could replicate OLS efforts, The Center Square first reported.
