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.

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.

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.

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.

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 July 2025 indicates a significant increase 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.

Frontex collects and processes data from Member States on the number of detections of illegal border crossings at the external borders of the Member States of the European Union. The dataset provides the latest figures on the main routes used by migrants to enter the European Union.

Over the observed period, the share of Hungarians satisfied with the way the government handled illegal border crossing increased. As of **************, ** percent of respondents were satisfied with the government's way of handling the issue.

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.

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.

The border security market is a dynamic landscape characterized by a diverse range of advanced technologies designed to enhance surveillance, detection, and response capabilities. These solutions address the increasing challenges of transnational crime, terrorism, and illegal immigration. Cameras: Cutting-edge camera systems, incorporating high-resolution imaging, night vision, thermal imaging, and sophisticated AI-powered analytics, provide comprehensive border surveillance. These systems enable real-time threat detection, automated alerts, and improved situational awareness for border patrol agents. Radars: Long-range radar systems play a vital role in detecting and tracking moving objects, regardless of weather conditions or visibility. This technology significantly enhances the ability to monitor vast border areas and prevent illegal crossings. Lasers: High-precision laser-based perimeter intrusion detection systems offer highly reliable and accurate detection of unauthorized border crossings. These systems provide timely alerts, minimizing response times and enhancing security effectiveness. Unmanned Vehicles (UAVs): Aerial and ground-based unmanned vehicles provide flexible and cost-effective solutions for enhanced border surveillance and patrol. UAVs offer real-time data acquisition, remote monitoring capabilities, and the ability to reach inaccessible areas. Biometric Systems: Biometric technologies, including facial recognition, fingerprint scanning, and iris scanning, offer secure and efficient traveler identification and verification. These systems streamline border processing, reduce wait times, and enhance security by preventing identity fraud. Data Analytics and Intelligence Platforms: Sophisticated software platforms integrate data from diverse sources, providing actionable intelligence to support strategic decision-making and resource allocation. These platforms enhance predictive capabilities and allow for proactive responses to emerging threats. Recent developments include: In January 2021, Idemia and the French Ministry of the Interior signed a contract for a new biometric border control system. The Idemia was providing a biometric border control system to the French government. A high-performance border control system was implemented to coordinate and harmonize all border control activities to reduce traveler time during border control checks., In November 2020, SAIC won a $973 million contract for US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to identify security threats to passengers and cargo.. Key drivers for this market are: Increased Terrorism and Transnational Crime: Escalating terrorism and transnational crime, including drug trafficking and human smuggling, drive the demand for advanced border security solutions. Border Management Challenges: Governments face challenges in managing vast borders, detecting illegal crossings, and preventing the smuggling of contraband and illicit substances.. Potential restraints include: High Implementation Costs: Advanced border security technologies can be expensive to implement and maintain, posing challenges for governments with limited budgets. Privacy Concerns: The use of biometric technologies and surveillance systems raises privacy concerns, requiring careful consideration and regulatory oversight.. Notable trends are: Integration of IoT and Cloud Computing: IoT devices and cloud computing platforms enable the integration and analysis of data from various sources, improving border security operations and decision-making. Blockchain Technology: Blockchain technology enhances data security and integrity in border management systems, providing a secure and tamper-proof platform for information exchange..

Wildlife crimes that involve smuggling threaten national security and biodiversity, cause regional conflicts, and hinder economic development, especially in developing countries with abundant wildlife resources. Over the past few decades, significant headway has been made in combating wildlife smuggling and the related illegal domestic trade in China. Previous studies on the wildlife smuggling trade were mostly based on customs punishment and confiscation data. From the China Judgments Online website, we retrieved cases related to cross-border wildlife and wildlife products smuggling from 2014 to 2020. A total of 510 available cases and 927 records for more than 110 species were registered. We thoroughly studied each judgment and ruling file to extract information on cases, defendants, species, sentences, and origins and destinations of wildlife and wildlife products. Furthermore, frequency of origin-destination place occurrences and spatial patterns of cross-border wildlife crime in China were shown in this data paper. The main purpose of our dataset is to make these wildlife and wildlife products trade data accessible for researchers to develop conservation studies. We expect that this dataset will be valuable for network analysis of regional or global wildlife trafficking, which has attracted global attention. There are no copyright restrictions on the data; we ask that researchers please cite this paper and the associated dataset when using the data in publications. Methods Data source: The China Judgments Online (CJO) website (https://wenshu.court.gov.cn) provides electronic public access to court records. In 2010, 2013, and 2016, the Supreme People’s Court promulgated and revised the provisions on the publication of judicial documents by people’s courts on the Internet, and the publication of judicial documents has become the responsibility and obligation of courts at all levels (Wu, 2022). Since January 1, 2014, judgment documents must be published on CJO within seven days of their enforcement, and cannot be amended, replaced or revoked without court authority. Up to now, the CJO has become an important channel for the publication of judgments documents.

Data collection: The collection time of this dataset is up to September 2021. We searched for “wildlife” and “smuggling” on the China referee’s website. Then, we screened these judgment documents according to the following criteria: (I) the full text can be accessed, and the case involves the crimes of illegal hunting, sale, acquisition, transportation, or smuggling of wildlife or wildlife products (including rare and endangered wildlife or wildlife products) overseas and (II) when there are multiple judgment documents in the same lawsuit, such as any subsequent retrial of a case, filing and hearing of different perpetrators in batches, a consistent case number (record) was assigned.

Data compilation: These judicial documents provide the process of tracing criminal information. We collected as detailed information as possible, such as the date of the seizure, the location of the seizure, the type of illegal activities, the items seized, the source of the items seized, and the actual or expected destination. We used these criteria: (I) on the premise of protecting the personal information in the judgment documents, we obtained the education level and nationality of the principal defendants; (II) for the origin and destination of wildlife or its products, in addition to recording the national, provincial, county, and city levels, the information should be as accurate as possible to specific geographical names by obtaining longitude and latitude coordinate data through Baidu map (https://map.baidu.com/) and Google map (https://www.google.com/maps); and (III) for the identification of “crocodile,” “modern elephant,” “pangolin scale,” and other identifications that are not accurate to the species level in the judgment documents, only the upper classification (genus) level was recorded (i.e., “Crocodylus,” “Loxodonta,” “Manis”; Figure 3). If only the Chinese common name of the species was given but the Latin scientific name was not given, we queried the corresponding species in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List of Threatened Species (hereafter: IUCN Red List; https://www.iucnredlist.org) for supplemental information. Eventually these records were translated from Chinese to English.

Quality control: Due to the need to extract information by reading many parties’ statements, defenders’ opinions, examination instructions, and other words, the preliminary preparation was mainly to discuss the standardized methods and steps of data collection, and the division of labor and training of personnel involved in data collection tasks. In the data entry and summary stage, established data collection methods and steps were followed to reduce human errors. In the data inspection stage, we cross checked the obtained data and missing values with the author to ensure the accuracy of data input. If there were questions, the lead author and Luo would revisit the original judgment documents and make a final decision after discussion with the other authors.

In 2023, there were over 380,000 illegal border crossings detected at the borders of the European Union, with the Central Mediterranean route detecting the highest number of crossings at 157,479.

In 2024, there were approximately 239,159 illegal border crossings made at borders of the European Union, with Syrian's being the most common nationality, at 44,237.

In April 2022, the number of illegal border crossings by Moroccan migrants on the West African route to Spain amounted to ***. This migration route connects West Africa with the Canary Islands in Spain. In the period under review, the number of illegal border crossings of Moroccan nationals peaked at around ***** in November 2020.

The enacted border patrol program budget in the United States has increased from 262.65 million U.S. dollars for the 1990 fiscal year to 4.9 billion U.S. dollars for the 2024 fiscal year. However, the 2024 fiscal year budget request was less than the enacted budget in 2023, which was over 5.4 billion U.S. dollars.

During the fiscal year of 2024, 100,034 refugees were admitted to the United States. This is a significant increase from the fiscal year of 2023, when 60,014 refugees were admitted into the United States.

In 2024, ** percent of migrants who arrived illegally through Spain's southern border were male adults. Undocumented arrivals of minors accounted for approximately **** percent of all cases, whereas women accounted another **** percent of the total number of irregular immigrants.

In 2024, the net migration rate in France reached *******. In recent years Europe and France have seen more people arrive than depart. The net migration rate is the difference between the number of immigrants (people coming into an area) and the number of emigrants (people leaving an area) throughout the year. France's highest net migration rate was reached in 2018 when it amounted to *******. Armed conflicts and economic migration are some of the reasons for immigration in Europe. The refugee crisis Studies have shown that there were ******* immigrant arrivals in France in 2022, which has risen since 2014. The migrant crisis, which began in 2015 in Europe, had an impact on the migration entry flows not only in France but in all European countries. The number of illegal border crossings to the EU over the Eastern Mediterranean route reached a record number of ******* crossings in 2015. Immigration in France Since the middle of the 19th century, France has attracted immigrants, first from European countries (like Poland, Spain, and Italy), and then from the former French colonies. In 2023, there were approximately *** million people foreign-born in France. Most of them were living in the Ile-de-France region, which contains Paris, and in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur in the Southeastern part of the country. In 2022, the majority of immigrants arriving in France were from Africa and Europe.

In the fiscal year of 2023, 418,930 immigrants to the United States from Asia received legal permanent resident status, also known as a green card. In that same year, 80,280 immigrants from Europe received a green card.

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.