How many people apprehended at US borders have a prior criminal conviction?
About 15,300 in 2023. This number of criminal noncitizen arrests represents 0.7% of all border apprehensions by the US Border Patrol (USBP) in 2023. Because one person may be arrested multiple times in the same fiscal year, it’s possible to have more arrests than people arrested.
In 2023
15K
arrests of people with a prior conviction at the border
In 2023
2.1M
total apprehensions at the border
In 2023
0.7%
of all apprehensions were of people with a prior criminal conviction
The US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) collects data on people intercepted by USBP while crossing the border into the US between legal points of entry. These are called “apprehensions.” Criminal noncitizen arrests are a subset of total apprehensions.
If someone is apprehended and has a prior criminal conviction — either in the US or abroad — they are arrested and the incident is recorded as a “criminal noncitizen arrest.” People without prior convictions are temporarily detained while they are administratively (rather than criminally) processed.
Arrests at the border were 79% higher in 2023 than in 2017.
USBP criminal noncitizen arrests, by fiscal year
The number of criminal noncitizen arrests may be driven by the number of people that are apprehended while attempting to cross the border between legal ports of entry. Total apprehensions in a given year vary according to various factors, including how many people attempt to cross the border, immigration policy, and funding for CBP.
Subscribe to get unbiased, data-driven insights sent to your inbox weekly.
Comparing noncitizen criminal arrests against total apprehensions shows that apprehensions of people with prior criminal convictions varied between 0.5% and 2.7% over 7 years, the period for which data is available.
Criminal noncitizen arrests were 0.7% of total border apprehensions in 2023.
By fiscal year
Noncitizens are arrested by CBP if, after apprehension, they are found to have been previously convicted of a crime. A prior conviction in the US counts towards someone’s criminal history. So does a prior conviction elsewhere, so long as it was for something considered a crime in the US.
Criminal noncitizens were arrested 15,300 times in 2023. Collectively, they had 19,400 prior convictions between them. These convictions represent a wide array of types of criminal conduct.
Illegal entry was the most common prior conviction for people arrested by USBP.
Share of convictions by type, fiscal year 2023
People who are apprehended by USBP and don’t have a prior criminal conviction are processed differently than those who are arrested. They will either be offered the opportunity to voluntarily leave the US with no legal consequences, be immediately removed without a hearing in immigration court, or be subject to normal removal proceedings that may end with a court-ordered removal from the country. These court-ordered removals will add a conviction for illegal entry onto a person’s criminal record. People arrested by CBP for illegal entry, re-entry have tried to enter the US without following proper procedures at least once before, and a court has previously ordered their removal.
Among individuals apprehended with a prior conviction in 2023, the least common crime was homicide or manslaughter, representing only 0.1% of all past criminal convictions.
