Editor’s Note: El Paso Matters is partnering with Gigafact to produce “fact briefs” that examine claims about issues shaping our community. 

NO.

U.S. Border Patrol encounters with undocumented immigrants are down in seven of nine Border Patrol sectors on the U.S.-Mexico border in the first seven months of the fiscal year, October through April. 

The agency doesn’t track encounters by states, but rather by sectors. The four Border Patrol sectors entirely in Texas saw encounters decline by 26% in the first seven months of the fiscal year. Encounters in the El Paso sector – which is mostly in New Mexico – declined by 41% in that period.

Encounters in the two sectors in Arizona rose by 33%, and by 34% in the two California sectors.

Overall, Border Patrol encounters have been down 7% in the first seven months of fiscal year 2024.

The Washington Office on Latin America, a research and human rights advocacy organization, said increased migrant enforcement in Mexico is most responsible for the drop in encounters at the border.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.

SOURCES: 

Brandy Ruiz is an audience engagement reporter at El Paso Matters. She joined the staff in 2021 as a social media intern, completed a summer fellowship at the Texas Tribune and graduated with a degree...