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.

About the Missing Migrants Data

This data is sourced from the International Organization for Migration. The data is part of a specific project called the Missing Migrants Project which tracks deaths of migrants, including refugees , who have gone missing along mixed migration routes worldwide. The research behind this project began with the October 2013 tragedies, when at least 368 individuals died in two shipwrecks near the Italian island of Lampedusa. Since then, Missing Migrants Project has developed into an important hub and advocacy source of information that media, researchers, and the general public access for the latest information.

Where is the data from?

Missing Migrants Project data are compiled from a variety of sources. Sources vary depending on the region and broadly include data from national authorities, such as Coast Guards and Medical Examiners; media reports; NGOs; and interviews with survivors of shipwrecks. In the Mediterranean region, data are relayed from relevant national authorities to IOM field missions, who then share it with the Missing Migrants Project team. Data are also obtained by IOM and other organizations that receive survivors at landing points in Italy and Greece. In other cases, media reports are used. IOM and UNHCR also regularly coordinate on such data to ensure consistency. Data on the U.S./Mexico border are compiled based on data from U.S. county medical examiners and sheriff’s offices, as well as media reports for deaths occurring on the Mexico side of the border. Estimates within Mexico and Central America are based primarily on media and year-end government reports. Data on the Bay of Bengal are drawn from reports by UNHCR and NGOs. In the Horn of Africa, data are obtained from media and NGOs. Data for other regions is drawn from a combination of sources, including media and grassroots organizations. In all regions, Missing Migrants Projectdata represents minimum estimates and are potentially lower than in actuality.

Updated data and visuals can be found here: https://missingmigrants.iom.int/

Who is included in Missing Migrants Project data?

IOM defines a migrant as any person who is moving or has moved across an international border or within a State away from his/her habitual place of residence, regardless of

  (1) the person’s legal status; 
  (2) whether the movement is voluntary or involuntary; 
  (3) what the causes for the movement are; or 
  (4) what the length of the stay is.[1]

Missing Migrants Project counts migrants who have died or gone missing at the external borders of states, or in the process of migration towards an international destination. The count excludes deaths that occur in immigration detention facilities, during deportation, or after forced return to a migrant’s homeland, as well as deaths more loosely connected with migrants’ irregular status, such as those resulting from labour exploitation. Migrants who die or go missing after they are established in a new home are also not included in the data, so deaths in refugee camps or housing are excluded. This approach is chosen because deaths that occur at physical borders and while en route represent a more clearly definable category, and inform what migration routes are most dangerous. Data and knowledge of the risks and vulnerabilities faced by migrants in destination countries, including death, should not be neglected, rather tracked as a distinct category.

How complete is the data on dead and missing migrants?

Data on fatalities during the migration process are challenging to collect for a number of reasons, most stemming from the irregular nature of migratory journeys on which deaths tend to occur. For one, deaths often occur in remote areas on routes chosen with the explicit aim of evading detection. Countless bodies are never found, and rarely do these deaths come to the attention of authorities or the media. Furthermore, when deaths occur at sea, frequently not all bodies are recovered - sometimes with hundreds missing from one shipwreck - and the precise number of missing is often unknown. In 2015, over 50 per cent of deaths recorded by the Missing Migrants Project refer to migrants who are presumed dead and whose bodies have not been found, mainly at sea.

Data are also challenging to collect as reporting on deaths is poor, and the data that does exist are highly scattered. Few official sources are collecting data systematically. Many counts of death rely on media as a source. Coverage can be spotty and incomplete. In addition, the involvement of criminal actors in incidents means there may be fear among survivors to report deaths and some deaths may be actively covered-up. The irregular immigration status of many migrants, and at times their families as well, also impedes reporting of missing persons or deaths.

The vary...

/data.zip: N-Gen Border Survey data (questions and responses) in .csv and .xls format. /consent_recruitment.zip: contains consent forms and recruitment materials in English and Spanish. The U.S.-Mexico border is a region of significant biological and cultural diversity that is of interest to scientists from a wide variety of disciplines. It is also an area of humanitarian crisis and contentious politics. U.S. and Mexican researchers who conduct fieldwork on both sides of the border are faced with ethical and logistical challenges in the course of their daily work. In our study, we find that researchers are faced with challenges ranging from difficulty in obtaining permits and accessing lands in border regions, to fear and intimidation along the militarized zones. Despite many having had direct experiences that affect their safety, most researchers feel safe working in the region and adapt their behavior by staying away from risky places. However, in the midst of a humanitarian crisis, the research community is left caught in the middle when their work intersects with civil and human rights.We present survey data that examines of the effects of U.S. Border policies on scientific research, specifically those researchers conducting fieldwork on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border. While anecdotal accounts exist, we present the first quantifiable data on this subject and document the interactions that field researchers have with authorities and people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, and the impacts that these interactions have on their ability to conduct researchThis study was approved by an Institutional Review Board responsible for human subjects research at The University of Arizona; IRB# 1901268217. Data made available under the Creative Commons has respondents' individual comments redacted to protect participant identity, however, parties interested in collaborating on use of the full dataset may contact the authors at nextgensd@gmail.com.

For inquiries regarding the contents of this dataset, please contact the Corresponding Author listed in the README.txt file. Administrative inquiries (e.g., removal requests, trouble downloading, etc.) can be directed to data-management@arizona.edu

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