WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the House Committee on Homeland Security released its October “Startling Stats” factsheet, detailing U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) border encounter data for the first month (October 2024) of Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. According to CBP, for the fourth October in a row under the Biden-Harris administration, nationwide encounters totaled more than 140,000, including more than 100,000 at the Southwest border. Total nationwide encounters since FY2021 are now closing in on 11 million, compared to just 3.1 million from FY2017-2020. 

The public safety impacts of this historic influx have been devastating. Since FY2021, Border Patrol agents have recorded 56,154 arrests of aliens with criminal convictions or outstanding warrants nationwide. For comparison, Border Patrol arrested 21,936 from FY2017-FY2020, highlighting how the Biden-Harris administration’s anti-enforcement policies have incentivized criminals and other bad actors to flock to our borders and threaten our communities. To make matters worse, recently released Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) data revealed that 650,000 criminal aliens are currently counted on ICE’s Non-Detained Docket, many of them roaming free in the interior. Finally, none of these numbers account for the criminals and potential national security threats who have undoubtedly entered among the roughly two million known gotaways since the start of FY2021. With many surveillance cameras inoperable along the Southwest border, there are likely countless more gotaways who have gone undetected.
 
On October 28, Fox News revealed that one in every 10 inmates in Houston, Texas, are inadmissible aliens, with 75 of them charged with murder, and 174 charged with sexual assault. According to another report, 1.4 million illegal aliens in the interior have been given final orders of removal but have not been deported yet, and only 13,000 of these aliens are currently detained, leaving most to roam free in the interior. Given this administration’s anti-enforcement record, they likely won’t be removed under Biden and Harris’ watch. 
 
But the public safety crisis impacts inadmissible aliens, as well, with the most vulnerable among them being unaccompanied alien children (UACs). Last month, 6,604 unaccompanied alien children were encountered at the Southwest border. These encounters increased from September, meaning more children have been smuggled to our border by dangerous criminal cartels that expose these children to abuse, exploitation, and even organ harvesting on their way. Once the children are here, the Biden-Harris administration fails to properly vet the sponsors they quickly deliver them to and  fails to conduct proper welfare checks for these children––leading to tens of thousands of children unaccounted for within our own country. 
 
In fact, an August 2024 report by the DHS Office of Inspector General found that since FY2019, more than 291,000 UACs were not even given Notices to Appear in court. Under the Biden-Harris administration, CBP has encountered more than 500,000 UACs at the Southwest border, compared to around 221,000 from FY2017-2020. An HHS whistleblower recently testified to the committee that she witnessed the agency’s failure to protect these children from dangerous unvetted sponsors, saying the Biden-Harris administration’s policies “have delivered these unaccompanied alien children to criminals, traffickers, and members of transnational criminal organizations.”
 
Luckily, securing America’s borders and ending the historic Biden-Harris border crisis will be the top priority for this Committee in the 119th Congress. Under President Trump’s leadership, we will work together to implement strong border security policies, swiftly enforce our laws in the interior, and empower DHS law enforcement to succeed in their crucial missions. 
 
Key Facts:

• Since the start of Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has recorded more than 10.9 million encounters nationwide, including more than 8.8 million at the Southwest border.
• CBP encountered 62,897 single adults, 36,718 family unit individuals, and 6,604 unaccompanied alien children (UACs) at the Southwest border. 
• Of the 143,050 nationwide encounters in October, 59% were at ports of entry (84,921), while only 15% of nationwide encounters were at ports of entry in FY2021
• Since January 2023, more than 860,000 otherwise–inadmissible aliens have scheduled appointments through the CBP One app. 
• Since the program began, 531,620 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans have been mass-paroled under the administration’s CHNV parole program. 
• 394 illegal aliens on the terrorist watchlist have been apprehended between ports of entry at the Southwest and northern borders since FY2021. 
• Since FY2021, Border Patrol agents have recorded 56,154 arrests of aliens with criminal convictions or outstanding warrants nationwide.
• Since FY2021, 9,254 pounds of fentanyl have been seized between ports of entry nationwide by Border Patrol agents, compared to just 1,604 pounds from FY2017-FY2020.

###