AP Data Maps Where 4.5 Million Migrants Went
AP Data Maps Where 4.5 Million Migrants Went
The News
The Associated Press has obtained federal data on 4.5 million migrants released into the United States at the Mexican border, and it shows where they went after they were let in.
The records cover crossings from October 2018 through July 2025 and were obtained exclusively by AP.
The headline finding: migrants increasingly settled in smaller cities and towns with less developed immigrant footholds, rather than the big traditional gateway metros.
The Numbers
4.5 million people released at the border over roughly seven years, from more than 150 countries, according to AP's analysis. AP reports the surge pushed the U.S. immigrant population to its highest levels.
Timeline
The start of the period covered by the federal data AP obtained.
The data set ends here, closing a roughly seven-year window on border releases.
AP publishes its analysis of the 4.5 million records, along with a companion piece explaining how it obtained and analyzed the data. Cleveland.com, PennLive and The Independent carry the reporting.
Reactions
AP frames the findings as a demographic shift, reporting that the border surge "reshaped America" by spreading new arrivals well beyond the established immigrant hubs.
The source reports in this story do not carry responses from the Department of Homeland Security, members of Congress, or state and local officials. The Frank will add reaction as it is reported.
What's Next
Expect the ZIP-code-level breakdown to drive the next round of argument — over which towns absorbed the most arrivals, what it cost them, and what it means for schools, housing and local budgets.
Because the data stops in July 2025, it does not measure what has happened at the border since. Any accounting of the current picture will require a fresh records fight.
More
AP says it requested individual anonymized information on every person released at the Mexican border, broken out by ZIP code, nationality and other characteristics — the kind of granular federal data that is rarely made public.
The reporting was distributed across outlets of different leanings on the same morning, including Cleveland.com, PennLive and The Independent.
Poll
Should the federal government publish border-release data by ZIP code as a matter of course?
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