The U.S. Border Patrol had nearly 250,000 encounters with migrants crossing into the United States from Mexico in December 2023, according to government statistics. That was the highest monthly total on record, easily eclipsing the previous peak of about 224,000 encounters in May 2022.
The monthly number of encounters has soared since 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic temporarily forced the U.S.-Mexico border to close and slowed migration across much of the world. In April 2020, the Border Patrol recorded around 16,000 encounters – among the lowest monthly totals in decades.