On December 30, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released statistics for Fiscal Year 2016, stating that “the Department apprehended 530,250 individuals nationwide and conducted a total of 450,954 removals and returns.”

DHS also provided breakdowns of its FY 2016 figures, comparing them to FY 2015:

• 415,816: the total number of apprehensions nationwide made by U.S. Border Patrol (USBP). In FY 2015, USBP arrested 337,117 individuals.
• 114, 434: the total number of apprehensions made by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), In FY 2015, ICE made 125,211 arrests.
• 274,821: the total number of identified inadmissible individuals at ports of entry as determined by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO). In FY 2015, that number was compared to 253,509.
• 240,255: the total number of removals or returns by ICE. In FY 2015, that number was  235,413.

The DHS release also linked to individual informational sites from both ICE and CPB.

According to the official DHS release, “98 percent of initial enforcement actions –a set of actions that includes USBP apprehensions, OFO determinations of inadmissibility, and ICE administrative arrests– involved individuals classified within one of the three enforcement priority categories. Ninety-one percent were among the top priority (Priority 1), which includes national security threats, individuals apprehended at the border while attempting to enter unlawfully, and the most serious categories of convicted criminals as well as gang members.”

The DHS release also included specific data regarding family units and unaccompanied minors from Central America. According to DHS, Central Americans again outnumbered Mexicans in apprehensions on the southern border: “…the demographics of illegal migration on our southern border have changed significantly over the last 15 years – far fewer Mexicans and single adults are attempting to cross the border without authorization, but more families and unaccompanied children are fleeing poverty and violence in Central America. In 2014, Central Americans apprehended on the southern border outnumbered Mexicans for the first time. In 2016, Central Americans again outnumbered Mexicans in apprehensions on the southern border.”

In addition, a CPB report that accompanied the DHS release stated the following: “In FY 2016, the USBP apprehended a total of 59,757 unaccompanied children and 77,857 family units nationwide. In FY 2014, those numbers were 68,631 and 68,684, respectively, indicating a 13 percent decrease in unaccompanied children and a 12 percent increase in family units over FY 2014.”

Here is the full CBP report:

Here is the full ICE report: