More than 521,000 cases are pending in federal immigration court, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University. Immigrants with pending deportation orders: 88,128 as of 2015, according to the Executive Office for Immigration Review at the Justice Department. Border Patrol agents: 18,321 agents patrol the U.S. border with Mexico. Arrests at the border: 408,870 people were arrested trying to cross the border illegally during the 2016 budget year that ended in September.