A Ten-Year Look at Inadmissible Migrants and Paroled Migrants at Ports of Entry

When noncitizens arrive at a port of entry, either along the border or at an international airport, border officials must assess whether each person can show that they are allowed to enter the United States (i.e., whether they are admissible) or whether they are not admissible (i.e., inadmissible[1]). When a border agent decides that someone is not admissible, it does not necessarily mean that a person has a criminal background or is a public safety risk; rather, it often means that the individual simply does not have a current visa or other documents that meet the standard to make them admissible. However, even if a border agent finds that a person is not admissible, there are provisions in the law that may allow that person to physically enter the country. One of these provisions, parole, allows the government to permit noncitizens to enter the country lawfully on a temporary basis and potentially receive work authorization.[2] This report seeks to answer the question of how frequently in recent years Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered noncitizens at ports of entry of who are not admissible, as well as the question of how many of these “inadmissibles” are ultimately recorded as having been paroled into the country.