The Evolving Demographics of Individuals Encountered at the US–Mexico Border

Between October 2019 and January 2024, at least 540,000 border encounters included children. The majority of child encounters, at 96.4%, are of unaccompanied children, with roughly 19,500, or 3.6%, made up of accompanied children.

Within this period, nearly 70% of the people the CBP encountered were single adults. The proportion of encounters of individuals in family units nearly tripled between fiscal years 2020 and 2023 from 11.6% to 31.0% of total encounters. The number of family unit encounters also includes children traveling with their families, who are not included in the unaccompanied or accompanied children categories.