New TRAC Analysis Shows 15 Years of Data on Border Patrol Arrests
A new report from TRAC at Syracuse University examines nearly 15 years of data on Border Patrol arrests along the US-Mexico border. The report titled “A Close Look at the Geography of Border Patrol Arrests: How a Spike in Annual Arrests Along U.S.-Mexico Border Hides Remarkable Variation by Sector and Nationality” shows two main trends.
First, whereas the San Diego and Tucson sectors fifteen years ago were the busiest sectors for Border Patrol arrests, these two sectors have been largely supplanted by sectors in Texas as well as the relatively narrow Yuma sector in terms of percent of arrests—suggesting, in part, a significant shift in where migrants are crossing. Second, although the historical framework for immigration enforcement along the Southwest Border was geared towards Mexican nationals, the past decade has seen considerable diversification of who Border Patrol is encountering, beginning with Central American migrants and expanding recently to even more nationalities throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, and beyond.
The report with graphs, images, and a border map, is available online here: https://trac.syr.edu/reports/726/.
-Austin Kocher