The number of people with criminal convictions caught entering the United States illegally per month so far this fiscal year has risen to a record high, data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show.
An average of 1,459 criminal illegal aliens per month have been arrested after crossing the U.S. border unlawfully since the current fiscal year began on Oct. 1, 2023, according to CBP data. This is the highest monthly tally of any year on record.
If the trend continues, when fiscal year 2024 ends in September, a record level of more than 17,000 criminals will have been caught crossing the border illegally. So far this fiscal year, that number amounts to 13,130.
By comparison, fiscal year 2023 saw an average of 1,272 arrests of criminal illegal immigrants per month, for a total of 15,267 arrests.
Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens recently revealed that 360 of the illegal immigrants with criminal convictions arrested so far in 2024 have gang affiliations.
“Individuals like these can pose a significant threat to public safety,” he wrote in a post on X. “We must be able to apprehend & identify them, so we can prosecute & remove them.”
While a little over half of the individuals on the CBP’s “criminal noncitizens” arrest list for 2024 so far have prior convictions for illegal entry and re-entry, significant numbers have been convicted of more serious crimes like assault (814), burglary (496), sexual offenses (168), and homicide (23).
