I made this chart, and underlying data table, by combining CBP’s migrant encounter data from 2020-2023 with data scraped from this big ugly CBP PDF covering 2007-2020.

Annual Border Patrol Migrant Encounters by Country at the U.S.-Mexico Border 2023: Mexico 31%, Guatemala 11.2%, Venezuela 10.6%, Mexico 20%, Honduras 10%, Colombia 8%, Cuba 6.1%, Ecuador 6.0%, All Others <6% Since 2007: Mexico 51%, Guatemala 13%, Honduras 11%, El Salvador 6%, Venezuela 4%, Cuba 3.2%, All Others <3% Mexico Guatemala Honduras El Salvador Venezuela Cuba Nicaragua Colombia Ecuador Other Countries 2007 800634 16307 21703 13602 60 131 1484 302 769 3647 2008 653035 15143 18110 12133 48 132 1327 215 1384 3478 2009 495582 14125 13344 11181 32 105 841 233 1169 4253 2010 396819 16831 12231 13123 35 84 760 307 1571 5970 2011 280580 17582 11270 10368 28 66 520 217 1064 5882 2012 262341 34453 30349 21903 28 40 876 185 2226 4472 2013 265409 54143 46448 36957 34 73 1389 365 3958 5621 2014 226771 80473 90968 66419 15 98 1809 233 4748 7837 2015 186017 56691 33445 43392 23 106 1015 282 2556 7806 2016 190760 74601 52952 71848 40 78 1298 302 2713 14278 2017 127938 65871 47260 49760 73 147 1057 196 1429 10185 2018 152257 115722 76513 31369 62 74 3282 192 1495 15613 2019 166458 264168 253795 89811 2202 11645 13309 401 13131 36588 2020 253118 47243 40091 16484 1227 9822 2123 295 11861 18387 2021 608037 279033 308931 95930 47752 38139 49841 5838 95692 114247 2022 738780 228220 199186 93196 187286 220321 163552 124540 23944 177672 2023 579146 213266 180659 53348 200668 116498 97757 154077 113813 188135

Data table

Looking at this, three things jump out at you:

  1. Until about 10 years ago, the migrant population at the U.S.-Mexico border was almost completely Mexican citizens (blue). More than 90 percent Mexican until 2009. More than 80 percent Mexican until 2012. Just 31 percent Mexican in 2023.
  2. Until the pandemic hit, the migrant population was almost completely Mexican, Salvadoran, Guatemalan, or Honduran (blue, darker green, brown, yellow). More than 90 percent came from those four countries until 2019; their share dropped to 89 percent in 2020. But just 54 percent came from those four countries in 2023.
  3. Since the pandemic, the diversity of nationalities apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border has multiplied. The arrival of more migrants from Cuba, Haiti, and South America reflects increasing insecurity and economic desperation, but also the emergence of new routes further south, like the “opening” of the Darién Gap and aerial arrivals in Nicaragua.

See also: