The number of migrants stopped by authorities at the southern border in January was nearly double the corresponding number from the month President Joe Biden took office one year ago, indicating the scale of the crisis.
U.S. border officials encountered 153,941 people who attempted to enter the United States from Mexico illegally between land ports of entry or were denied admission at the ports, according to a new court document filed in Texas v. Biden. That number is down from recent months but far higher than the 78,414 seen in January of 2021. The large majority, nearly 147,000 people, came across in unfenced areas where Border Patrol agents work.
Federal law enforcement resorted to releasing tens of thousands of noncitizens into the country rather than returning people to Mexico, despite a pandemic public health protocol requiring that all be returned to Mexico and a second mandate that noncitizens entering the U.S. at ports of entry be fully vaccinated.
Of the 153,941 migrants encountered, about half were removed from the country, while half were not. Of the roughly 75,000 taken into custody, about 46,000 were released into the U.S. in January on parole or after being placed in immigration court proceedings.
MIGRANTS SEW MOUTHS SHUT IN PROTEST FOR ACCESS TO US BORDER
Up to about a decade ago, the large majority of illegal immigrants stopped at the southern border were Mexican men seeking work in the U.S. But half of migrants encountered under Biden have been families and unaccompanied children coming from Central and South America.
The surge of migrants traveling from countries other than Mexico comes amid worsening conditions globally because of the pandemic and following changes that Biden made to immigration policies.
That number of illegal immigrant encounters at the southern border dropped to below 20,000 in the first month of the coronavirus pandemic two years ago, partly as the result of a Trump administration order that any child, adult, or family that illegally crossed be sent back to their home country rather than taken into custody.
But illegal crossings from Mexico began to rise through 2020 as the Border Patrol turned away migrants but was not able to refer people for prosecution, essentially giving migrants unlimited tries to get into the U.S. without facing consequences. The 20,000 figure hit 71,000 in December 2020, weeks before Biden took office.
After Biden took office in January 2021, the administration stopped turning away children who showed up alone at the border, and in the months that followed, more children showed up at the southern border than at any time in U.S. history.
Biden immediately halted deportations for 100 days, suspended border wall construction, and vowed to rescind initiatives that turned away asylum-seekers at the nation’s borders — moves that sent a signal to the world that likely prompted many to travel to the U.S. In addition, the pandemic has had the harshest economic effect on Latin American nations, leading more people to flee to the U.S.
Illegal entry attempts quickly rose after Biden took office. Border Patrol surpassed 169,000 encounters in March and 173,000 in April as Biden eased border policies, including ending the Migrant Protection Protocols, implemented under Trump, that had forced migrants to live in Mexico while asylum cases made it through the courts.
Biden initially downplayed the uptick in illegal migration this spring as “seasonal.” But the numbers continued to spike through the summer, when fewer migrants have historically been apprehended at the border because the heat acts as a deterrent.
Border officials continued to make more than 170,000 encounters in May and June. Encounters topped more than 210,000 in July and 195,000 in August. The number dropped through the fall and winter months.
This spring, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas rolled out the Biden administration’s four-pronged plan to stem the flow of migrants illegally entering the country. The plan included addressing the root causes that lead people to leave their home countries, rebuilding the asylum process, improving border security management, and taking down smugglers. To date, the Biden administration has not made substantive progress in any of the four areas.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The extent of illegal immigration is not fully known because federal data only track those who were intercepted and cannot account for people who were not detected or evaded arrest. Because Border Patrol agents have been pulled from the border to transport and process those arriving, it left areas of the border unmanned.
Frustrated with the high numbers, the Congressional Border Security Caucus called this week for a meeting with federal agencies Customs and Border Protection, as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“Our members are extremely concerned about the historic levels of illegal immigration that have occurred over the past year,” caucus co-chairmen Rep. Andy Biggs, an Arizona Republican, and Brian Babin, a Texas Republican, wrote in a letter to CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus. “We would appreciate the opportunity to discuss our concerns about these policies, as well as how we can work to provide CBP with the resources necessary to secure our border.”
