The estimated population of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. stands at around ** million people. Although the number has stabilized, the United States has seen a spike in migrant encounters in the last few years, with over * million cases registered by the U.S. Border Patrol in 2023. This is a slight decrease from the previous year, when there were over *** million cases registered. Due to its proximity and shared border, Mexico remains the leading country of origin for most undocumented immigrants in the U.S., with California and Texas being home to the majority.

Immigration and political division

Despite the majority of the population having immigrant roots, the topic of immigration in the U.S. remains one of the country’s longest-standing political debates. Support among Republicans for restrictive immigration has grown alongside Democratic support for open immigration. This growing divide has deepened the polarization between the two major political parties, stifling constructive dialogue and impeding meaningful reform efforts and as a result, has led to dissatisfaction from all sides. In addition to general immigration policy, feelings toward illegal immigration in the U.S. also vary widely. For some, it's seen as a significant threat to national security, cultural identity, and economic stability. This perspective often aligns with support for stringent measures like Trump's proposed border wall and increased enforcement efforts. On the other hand, there are those who are more sympathetic toward undocumented immigrants, as demonstrated by support for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Border Crossing Data provide summary statistics for inbound crossings at the U.S.-Canada and the U.S.-Mexico border at the port level. Data are available for trucks, trains, containers, buses, personal vehicles, passengers, and pedestrians. Border crossing data are collected at ports of entry by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The data reflect the number of vehicles, containers, passengers or pedestrians entering the United States. CBP does not collect comparable data on outbound crossings. Users seeking data on outbound counts may therefore want to review data from individual bridge operators, border state governments, or the Mexican and Canadian governments.

In the fiscal year of 2020, the United States Border Patrol apprehended ******* people trying to cross the Southwest border. This was a significant decrease from the previous year, when there were ******* apprehensions by Border Patrol at the Southwest border. This decrease is likely due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

As a result of the crisis between Belarus and the European Union, Polish border services recorded approximately *** illegal attempts to cross the Polish-Belarusian border in December 2024. Around ****** immigrants, mainly from Middle Eastern and African countries, attempted to cross the border illegally in 2024. It was nearly ***** more than in the previous year. The latest data from April 2025 indicates a significant decrease in illegal crossings, with more than ***** recorded attempts.In 2021, due to the actions of Alexander Lukashenko's government, a migration crisis was initiated on Belarus's border with the European Union. The Belarusian authorities contributed by organizing the transfer of refugees and immigrants from Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries of the Middle East and Africa across the Belarusian-Lithuanian and Belarusian-Polish-Latvian borders. These actions were meant to respond to EU sanctions against Belarus caused by the rigged presidential election in 2020 and the repression of oppositionists.

In 2023 there were 5,608 illegal border crossings into the European Union via it's Eastern borders, compared with 8,160 in 2021. This route typically sees far fewer illegal crossings than the Mediterranean Sea does, however, these have increased sharply in recent years, as the Lukashenko regime in Belarus - a state hostile to the European Union - has allowed increased migration to the EU via its borders with Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. These migrants are generally not Belarussians, but migrants transitting through Belarus to the EU, mostly from the Middle East or North Africa. The Lukashenko regime aims to put pressure on the EU to remove sanctions on Belarus, which have been in place since the country's fraudulent election in 2020 and the subsequent suppression of the mass protest movement which developed to oppose the regime.

Number of trucks entering the United States from Mexico. The Bureau of Transportation of Statistics releases incoming border crossing statistics using data collected at ports of entry by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Significantly more men were apprehended by the United States Border Patrol than women in the the fiscal year of 2020. Nationwide, ******* men were apprehended by Border Patrol in that year, compared to ****** women who were apprehended.

Number of personal vehicle passengers, train passengers, bus passengers, and pedestrians entering the United States from Mexico. The Bureau of Transportation of Statistics releases incoming border crossing statistics using data collected at ports of entry by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Analysis of ‘Border Crossing Entry Data’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from https://catalog.data.gov/dataset/656e0b2d-60f1-49e8-a3a7-073602d441a2 on 12 February 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Border Crossing Data provide summary statistics for inbound crossings at the U.S.-Canada and the U.S.-Mexico border at the port level. Data are available for trucks, trains, containers, buses, personal vehicles, passengers, and pedestrians. Border crossing data are collected at ports of entry by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The data reflect the number of vehicles, containers, passengers or pedestrians entering the United States. CBP does not collect comparable data on outbound crossings. Users seeking data on outbound counts may therefore want to review data from individual bridge operators, border state governments, or the Mexican and Canadian governments.

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

Number of personal vehicle passengers, train passengers, bus passengers, and pedestrians entering the United States from Canada. The Bureau of Transportation of Statistics releases incoming border crossing statistics using data collected at ports of entry by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

In 2023 there were over 350,000 illegal border crossing detecting on the borders of the European Union, the most crossings recorded since 2017 when there were over 204,000. Illegal border crossings peaked in 2015 at the height of the European migrant crisis, when over 1.8 million illegal border crossing were detected.

Inbound and outbound border crossings by province, length of stay, and month. Data from 1972 to present.

In this table, the Dutch import and export value according to border crossing are classified by the divisions 66-74 of the Standard International Trade Classification (SITC). The data is broken down further by continents and countries according to the Geonomenclature (GEONOM).

Data available from: January 2015.

Status of the figures: The figures on international trade in goods are provisional for a longer period of time, as they can be adjusted on the basis of new or current source information. The provisional figures become revised provisional in the fourth quarter after a reporting year. The revised provisional figures will become definitive in the fourth quarter of the following year.

Changes as of July 3, 2025: The provisional figures for the month of February 2025 have been added.

When will new figures be published? New figures become available about four months after a reporting month.

In this table, the Dutch import, export value and quantities are classified by border crossing according to Sections XVI-XXI of the Combined Nomenclature (CN). The data are further broken down by continents and countries according to the Geonomenclature (GEONOM).

Data available from: 2015.

Status of figures: The figures on international trade in goods are provisional for a longer period of time, because they can be adjusted on the basis of new or up-to-date source information. In the fourth quarter after a reporting year, the provisional figures will become more provisional. The more detailed provisional figures will then become definitive in the fourth quarter of the following year.

Changes as of 6 June 2024: Preliminary figures for 2023 have been added.

Changes as of 22 November 2023: The figures for 2018 to 2020 have been corrected and adjusted for 2022. For all these years, secrecy was unjustifiably lacking for the continent of Europe. This has been restored in this version.

When will there be new figures? New figures appear about five months after a reporting year.

Number of vehicles travelling between Canada and the United States, by trip characteristics, length of stay and type of transportation. Data available monthly.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, the number of detections of illegal border-crossing (IBC) between Border Crossing Points at the EU’s external border was at the lowest level for a fourth quarter since 2013, and at the second-lowest level for any quarter since the EU-Turkey Statement entered into force. The 39% fall compared to Q4 2016, reflects in particular strong decreases on the Central Mediterranean and the Western Balkan routes, against which stood strong relative increases on the Western Mediterranean sea route and on the Eastern Mediterranean route.

On account of intensified activities of the Libyan Coast Guard the Central Mediterranean route registered a strong relative decrease compared to Q4 2016 (-72%) and the lowest quarterly aggregate number of illegal border-crossings since Q1 2015. The sudden uptick in launches from Tunisia (almost exclusively Tunisians), recorded already in Q3 2017, continued in Q4 2017 (3 770).

On the Eastern Mediterranean route, despite the season, the flow stayed at a high level, in fact the second-highest quarterly total since the implementation of the EU‑Turkey Statement was recorded, despite the commitment exhibited by the Turkish side to border control. In particular, the large share of Syrians observed in Q3 2017 continued. Meanwhile, at the land border the strong influx of Turkish migrants continued (making up 44% of the flow).

On the Western Mediterranean Sea route, yet another record number of detections was recorded, with a quarter that exceeded the annual total of any year in FRAN historical data before 2016. This record high occurred notwithstanding intense patrolling activities and preventions of departure by Moroccan and Algerian maritime assets. Of the 9 444 detections on both the sea and land route, 8 662 (92%) claimed to be minors. The mostly male minors from Algeria and Morocco in debriefings professed to have been sent by their families to earn a living in Europe. In contrast, on the Western Mediterranean land route, the number of illegal border crossings fell to a record low of a mere 47 detections.

On the Western Balkan route, a new subroute from Greece via Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to Croatia, has been emerging.

As regards other FRAN indicators and again in comparison to Q4 2016, the fall of the numbers of return decisions, effective returns as well as asylum applications coincides with the fall in illegal border crossings. Even though there are gaps in the data reported by Member States for clandestine entry, the decline in the numbers reported for this indicator may well be due to the difficulty to detect clandestine entries. Finally it is worth noting that detected illegal stays on exit saw moderate increases.

In this table, the Dutch import, export value and quantities are classified by border crossing according to Sections I-IV of the Combined Nomenclature (CN). The data are further broken down by continents and countries according to the Geonomenclature (GEONOM).

Data available from: 2015.

Status of figures: The figures on international trade in goods are provisional for a longer period of time, because they can be adjusted on the basis of new or up-to-date source information. In the fourth quarter after a reporting year, the provisional figures will become more provisional. The more detailed provisional figures will then become definitive in the fourth quarter of the following year.

Changes as of 6 June 2024: Preliminary figures for 2023 have been added.

Changes as of 22 November 2023: The figures for 2018 to 2020 have been corrected and adjusted for 2022. For all these years, secrecy was unjustifiably lacking for the continent of Europe. This has been restored in this version.

When will there be new figures? New figures appear about five months after a reporting year.

Number of trucks entering the United States from Canada. The Bureau of Transportation of Statistics releases incoming border crossing statistics using data collected at ports of entry by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The United States Border Patrol recorded 895 immigrant deaths near the Southwest border in the fiscal year of 2022, the greatest number recorded within the provided time period. In the previous fiscal year, 568 immigrant deaths near the Southwest border were recorded.