Bethany Blankley | The Center Square
At least 135,481 foreign nationals were apprehended or reported evading capture after illegally entering the southwest border in June, according to preliminary data obtained by The Center Square.
“Gotaways” is the official U.S. Customs and Border Protection term that refers to the number of people who are known and reported to illegally enter the U.S. between ports of entry who intentionally try to evade capture by law enforcement and don’t return to Mexico. In June, gotaways totaled at least 32,840, with the greatest numbers reported in the Tucson and El Paso sectors, as they have nearly every month this year.
CBP doesn’t publicly report gotaway data. The data was obtained by The Center Square from a U.S. Border Patrol agent who provided it on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. It only includes Border Patrol data and excludes Office of Field Operations data. Total numbers would be higher if OFO data were included.
The numbers are significantly lower than previous months because the Biden administration is shifting illegal entry to the ports of entry, former acting CBP Chief and former Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan told The Center Square. “As Border Patrol apprehensions go down [between ports of entry], the encounters at Office of Field Operations are skyrocketing,” he said. “There were over 90,000 OFO apprehensions in April. June will be higher.
“OFO apprehensions alone are on pace for one million encounters this fiscal year, a 300% increase from fiscal 2020.”
The Biden administration is “shifting the crisis from in between the ports of entry to the ports of entry themselves,” Morgan said while at the same time are calling the change “a new legal pathway and claiming victory. It’s a perversion and violation of the law. A big lie. One government sponsored shell game.”
As of June 10, the preliminary data for June in nine southwest border sectors include:
BIG BEND SECTOR
Apprehensions- 579
Turnbacks- 15
Gotaways Border Zone (known/recorded)- 146
Unclassifiable Detection- 1
Gotaways Interior Zone- 47
No Violations- 1
Deceased- 1
Outstanding- 0
DEL RIO SECTOR
Apprehensions- 24,880
Turnbacks- 200
Gotaways Border Zone (known/recorded)- 5,617
Unclassifiable Detection- 35
Gotaways Interior Zone- 1,212
No Violations- 65
Deceased- 22
Outstanding- 0
EL CENTRO SECTOR
Apprehensions- 1,978
Turnbacks- 268
Gotaways Border Zone (known/recorded)- 179
Unclassifiable Detection- 0
Gotaways Interior Zone- 11
No Violations- 3
Deceased- 3
Outstanding- 0
EL PASO SECTOR
Apprehensions- 13,838
Turnbacks- 2,804
Gotaways Border Zone (known/recorded)- 6,613
Unclassifiable Detection- 1
Gotaways Interior Zone- 269
No Violations- 25
Deceased- 16
Outstanding- 0
LAREDO SECTOR
Apprehensions- 2,147
Turnbacks- 2,695
Gotaways Border Zone (known/recorded)- 1,094
Unclassifiable Detection- 9
Gotaways Interior Zone- 308
No Violations- 96
Deceased- 2
Outstanding- 0
RIO GRANDE VALLEY SECTOR
Apprehensions- 11,715
Turnbacks- 2,092
Gotaways Border Zone (known/recorded)- 1,321
Unclassifiable Detection- 71
Gotaways Interior Zone- 436
No Violations- 92
Deceased- 15
Outstanding- 10
SAN DIEGO SECTOR
Apprehensions- 13,201
Turnbacks- 293
Gotaways Border Zone (known/recorded)- 3,730
Unclassifiable Detection- 26
Gotaways Interior Zone- 3,253
No Violations- 11
Deceased- 0
Outstanding- 0
TUCSON SECTOR
Apprehensions- 25,090
Turnbacks- 474
Gotaways Border Zone (known/recorded)- 6,588
Unclassifiable Detection- 45
Gotaways Interior Zone- 1,492
No Violations- 151
Deceased- 8
Outstanding- 0
YUMA SECTOR
Apprehensions- 9,213
Turnbacks- 72
Gotaways Border Zone (known/recorded)- 506
Unclassifiable Detection- 0
Gotaways Interior Zone- 19
No Violations- 22
Deceased- 3
Outstanding- 0
Apprehensions refer to those who illegally enter the U.S. and surrender or are caught by Border Patrol agents. Turnbacks refer to those who illegally enter but return to Mexico. The gotaway data indicates where foreign nationals are detected illegally entering the U.S., at the Mexican border or farther north in the interior.
Unclassifiable detection isn’t part of 6 U.S. Code, which specifies how encounters are to be reported. It means agents, for a range of reasons, couldn’t determine citizenship. No-violations are individuals “deemed to have committed no infraction and don’t affect Got-Away statistics,” according to the internal tracking system Border Patrol agents use.
Both categories should be categorized as gotaways, the Border Patrol agent explained, assuming all non-arrests were of non-citizens.
The numbers don’t tell the whole story, Border Patrol agents and those in law enforcement have told The Center Square, because they don’t include unknown and unrecorded gotaways. Not all gotaways are recorded because not all are identified, which is why officials argue the number of people illegally entering the U.S. is believed to be much greater than reported.
