Jeff Bingaman United States Senator from New Mexico

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the federal agency that enforces immigration and drug laws along the border, recently released data about its Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11) apprehensions—and the data indicates that illegal traffic on the southwest border is continuing to significantly decrease.

Last year's southwest border apprehensions dropped 27% from the previous year, falling 72% over the last five years. In terms of New Mexico specifically, apprehensions fell 16% last year, representing a drop of 91% since 2005.  Arizona, which has recently seen the highest level of illegal traffic, reached a 17-year low in apprehensions.

While there is no way of knowing the exact number of people successfully crossing the border, apprehensions are typically a good indicator of illegal traffic.  With historic levels of personnel, technology, and resources deployed along the southwest border, including over 20,000 Border Patrol agents, we are making progress in securing our border and I commend CBP for their good work.