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Are border encounters going up or down?

Encounters in August 2026 were 34,428, 90.7% below the highest month in the published series, December 2023, when CBP recorded 370,883.

Answer current as of

Encounters peaked at 370,883 in December 2023, and were 34,428 in August 2026

Every encounter CBP recorded in the month, across all components and areas of responsibility, October 2022 to August 2026. An encounter is an event: the same person encountered twice in a month is two.

The file CBP publishes begins in October 2022 and does not reach further back, so no comparison here extends beyond it.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection — Nationwide Encounters

The figures behind this chart
Encounters peaked at 370,883 in December 2023, and were 34,428 in August 2026. Every encounter CBP recorded in the month, across all components and areas of responsibility, October 2022 to August 2026. An encounter is an event: the same person encountered twice in a month is two.
MonthEncountersFiscal year
October 2022278,3172023
November 2022284,6242023
December 2022302,3922023
January 2023209,1512023
February 2023213,9112023
March 2023259,4712023
April 2023276,0362023
May 2023275,1662023
June 2023211,4572023
July 2023245,1542023
August 2023304,0732023
September 2023341,3922023
October 2023309,0242024
November 2023308,6052024
December 2023370,8832024
January 2024242,5302024
February 2024256,0712024
March 2024246,5052024
April 2024247,9292024
May 2024240,9242024
June 2024204,9322024
July 2024170,1802024
August 2024158,8932024
September 2024144,6662024
October 2024142,7422025
November 2024124,9722025
December 2024124,4822025
January 202581,4792025
February 202528,6132025
March 202529,0132025
April 202529,1972025
May 202529,4702025
June 202525,1852025
July 202524,5892025
August 202526,1622025
September 202526,0022025
October 202530,6362026
November 202530,4232026
December 202530,7142026
January 202634,6322026
February 202626,9802026
March 202631,4622026
April 202631,3582026
May 202632,8252026
June 202631,6202026
July 202633,7882026
August 202634,4282026

Where this comes from

The figure is the result of a checked-in query, encounters_by_month.sql, run against the published data. Every number on this page can be traced to it.