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FACT BRIEF

Are undocumented immigrants being bused from California to Arizona?

By Carmela Guaglianone
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YES

U.S. Customs and Border Protection occasionally transfers migrants from overcrowded border sectors to those with more capacity so they can be detained, processed and deported, rather than released. Political considerations are not a factor in the decision to transfer migrants.

The San Diego sector, one of nine along the southern border, recorded the greatest influx of migrant encounters since last October, which has resulted in a strain on the sector’s limited resources. Encounters increased 40% compared to the year prior, totalling more than 324,000.

The Yuma sector, comparatively, recorded less than a fifth of San Diego’s total U.S. Border Patrol Title 8 encounters, or when migrants are apprehended or detained for entering the country illegally.

Overall, encounters along the southern border have decreased by 25% between October 2023 and October 2024.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Email correspondence with Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Southwest Land Border Encounters (By Component) Dashboard
U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Nationwide Encounters Dashboard
Baker Institute Navigating the Border: San Diego’s and Tijuana’s Migrant Reception Efforts
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Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the state’s only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting. AZCIR's mission is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable by exposing injustice and systemic inequities through investigative journalism.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.