U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions in California doubled in two years. But trend is slowing

The U.S. Border Patrol last year apprehended the highest number of immigrants trying to cross from Mexico into California in nearly a decade, though the trend is already shifting following Trump administration policy changes meant to discourage asylum seekers from entering the United States, the latest federal statistics show.

Agents at the patrol’s San Diego and El Centro sectors apprehended 93,187 unauthorized immigrants during the fiscal year 2019, up by 37 percent from the previous year. The number of apprehensions in those two sectors more than doubled between 2017 and 2019.

The trend was even more dramatic at other parts of the southwest border. Border Patrol agents working in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley sector apprehended about 339,000 unauthorized immigrants in the fiscal year 2019, up from about 162,000 in 2018.

Along the entire southwest border, agents apprehended about 852,000 immigrants last year, up from 397,000 the previous year.

The increase coincided with an influx of asylum seekers from Central America. In response, the Trump administration has forced many asylum seekers to wait outside the United States for their claims to be adjudicated, a policy that critics say has created fear and confusion among thousands of immigrants.

Following the implementation of that policy and other Trump administration efforts, border patrol apprehensions nationwide have fallen in each of the last eight months. The Associated Press reported earlier this month that border patrol encounters fell to 165,000 during the last four months, compared to 242,000 during the same period last year.

Phillip Reese is a data specialist at The Bee and teaches at Sacramento State: 916-321-1137.