McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — The number of migrant encounters by Border Patrol agents in the South Texas sectors of the Rio Grande Valley and Del Rio dropped by over 75% in October from the previous year, according to new data by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The number of encounters by Border Patrol agents in October in the RGV Sector dropped by a whopping 84.2% from October 2023. That’s the most decrease of any of the nine sectors on the Southwest Border.
In the Del Rio Sector, which includes the border city of Eagle Pass, encounters dropped by 77.6% during that time frame, CBP says.
The total number of migrants that agents encountered in the RGV was 5,061 in October. That’s an average of jut 168 in the 200-mile-long sector per day. However, that’s up nearly 8% from the 4,689 encounters by agents in the RGV Sector in September.
And the RGV Sector continued to report the highest number of encounters of unaccompanied minors of any sector on the Southwest border with 1,566 in October.
The Del Rio Sector also saw an increase of 23.5% with 8,567 encounters in October, up from 6,932 in September, according to data.
A trend in fewer encounters began in June after President Joe Biden issued an executive order limiting asylum-seekers allowed to enter the country to only those with asylum appointments at U.S. ports of entry made via Homeland Security’s CBP One app, with a few exceptions.
Since then, the numbers have continued to be much lower than the previous fiscal year.
Across the entire Southwest border migrant encounters were down 70% from October 2023, however up slightly by 5% from September.
CBP’s enhanced enforcement efforts are continuing to keep border encounters low, and we continue to take unprecedented measures to dismantle and disrupt the operations of transnational criminal organizations, including those trafficking illicit narcotics like fentanyl, to keep our communities safe,” CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller said in a statement.
From June 5 through the end of October, DHS removed more than 206,000 people to 155 countries. This included more than 640 international repatriation flights, CBP says.
Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.
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