Preliminary Border Patrol data for April: 211,972 apprehensions, tens of thousands of additional ‘got-aways’

Data confirms far more people entering U.S. illegally than reported

(The Center Square) – According to preliminary U.S. Border Patrol data for the month of April, BP agents apprehended 211,972 people entering the southwestern border illegally. The data is preliminary and excludes figures from the Office of Field Operations, which will likely make the numbers higher. A minimum of an additional 58,000 “got-aways,” identified as known and reported to have evaded capture, also entered the U.S. illegally in April. However, this number is anticipated to be much higher, based on how data is recorded. The Center Square obtained the information from a Border Patrol officer at the southern border in Texas. It includes got-away estimates, which aren’t normally in the monthly enforcement reports issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The BP officer, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, also told The Center Square that got-away numbers are being deleted from the system, or labeled as something else to make it seem like there are fewer. The numbers are broken down by BP sector and categories, including apprehensions, turn backs, non-violations, outstanding, no-arrests, got aways (known/recorded), and deceased. The sectors that saw the most traffic last month, as in nearly all months, were in Texas in the Del Rio and Rio Grande Valley sectors. According to preliminary data as of May 2, from April 1-30:

Apprehensions: 42,564 Turn Backs: 182 Got-Aways (known/recorded): 16,341 Unresolved Detection: 163 No Arrest: 4,138 Deceased: 10 Non-violation: 229 Outstanding: 75

Apprehensions: 42,604 Turn Backs: 4,453 Got-Aways (known/recorded): 4,071 Unresolved Detection: 242 No Arrest: 3,041 Deceased: 12 Non-violation: 383 Outstanding: 41

Apprehensions: 30,384 Turn Backs: 3,706 Got-Aways (known/recorded): 6,903 Unresolved Detection: 33 No Arrest: 290 Deceased: 0 Non-violation: 141 Outstanding: 8

Apprehensions: 13,112 Turn Backs: 2,901 Got-Aways (known/recorded): 2,209 Unresolved Detection: 15 No Arrest: 1,207 Deceased: 4 Non-violation: 290 Outstanding: 0

Apprehensions: 15,197 Turn Backs: 657 Got-Aways (known/recorded): 5,012 Unresolved Detection: 12 No Arrest: 5,256

Deceased: 0 Non-violation: 45 Outstanding: 226

Apprehensions: 26,360 Turn Backs: 1,006 Got-Aways (known/recorded): 17,708 Unresolved Detection: 1,224 No Arrest: 2,646 Deceased: 6 Non-violation: 222 Outstanding: 547

Apprehensions: 31,382 Turn Backs: 292 Got-Aways (known/recorded): 3,457 Unresolved Detection: 64 No Arrest: 54 Deceased: 5 Non-violation: 66 Outstanding: 391

Apprehensions: 6,452 Turn Backs: 595 Got-Aways (known/recorded): 842 Unresolved Detection: 5 No Arrest: 7 Deceased: 1 Non-violation: 4 Outstanding: 14

Apprehensions: 3,917 Turn Backs: 64 Got-Aways (known/recorded): 2,042 Unresolved Detection: 201 No Arrests: 518 Deceased: 0 Non-violations: 29 Outstanding: 133 Apprehensions include those in the U.S. illegally who surrender or are caught by BP officers. Turn backs include those who entered illegally but returned to Mexico. The categories of "no arrests" and "unresolved detection" aren’t part of 6 U.S. Code, which BP officers use to classify encounters. They are used as a way to lower the number of got-aways being reported, the BP officer says. No arrests mean someone “was detected in a non-border zone and their presence didn’t affect Got-Away statistics,” according to the official internal tracking system used by Border Patrol. "Unresolved detection" means the same thing, but the officers, for a range of reasons, couldn’t determine citizenship. Non-violations are “deemed to have committed no infraction and don’t affect Got-Away statistics,” according to the tracking system definition. No arrests and non-violations can include citizens. Outstanding includes encountered people who haven’t yet been categorized as turn backs, apprehensions or got-aways. However,non-violations, no arrests and unresolved detection, should actually be categorized as got-aways, the BP officer says. Because each sector determines how it categorizes data, reporting is inconsistent. For example, in the San Diego and Rio Grande Valley sectors, the BP officer says, no arrests is often used as a category to include got-aways, which is why their numbers are so high. Tucson and Del Rio sectors hold data in outstanding for 72 hours, whereas other sectors don’t, the BP officer pointed out. A more accurate estimate of got-aways for April would include data categorized as unresolved detection, non-violation and no arrest, assuming all non-arrests were of non-citizens, the BP officer said. This would put got-aways closer to over 71,000. However, these numbers also exclude known got-aways not recorded due to several factors and the unknown number of people who entered illegally and evaded capture. BP officers have no way of knowing who any of the got-aways are, although they estimate many have criminal backgrounds, are likely dangerous and working with Mexican cartels.