Federal border officials had an unprecedented 300,000 encounters of
immigrants
attempting to enter the country without authorization in December, the most in any month in national history.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
data
released Friday showed 301,625 people were apprehended by
Border Patrol
for crossing illegally and turned away at the ports of entry.
MAYORKAS SCOLDED BORDER PATROL IN ‘WHIPPING’ INCIDENT AFTER LEARNING AGENT DID NOT HAVE A WHIP
Despite it being the highest month ever recorded, CBP maintained that its new border protocols to deter illegal migration attempts were a success.
“The December update shows our new border enforcement measures are working. Even as overall encounters rose because of smugglers spreading misinformation around the court-ordered lifting of the Title 42 public health order, we continued to see a sharp decline in the number of Venezuelans unlawfully crossing our southwest border, down 82% from September 2022,” CBP acting Commissioner Troy Miller said.
“Early data suggests the expanded measures for Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans are having a similar impact, and we look forward to sharing the additional data in the next update,” Miller said in reference to the Biden administration’s
announcement
earlier this month that citizens of those four countries would not be let into the United States if they illegally enter the country.
In total, 5.2 million immigrants have tried to get into the U.S. illegally between Feb. 1, 2021, and Dec. 30, 2022 — more than any other period in the Border Patrol’s 98 years.
Of the 301,625 encounters nationwide, 221,181 people illegally came across from Mexico between the ports of entry. Approximately 30,000 other immigrants sought admission at the ports of entry but did not have the necessary documents to be admitted.
Across the entire southern border, 251,487 people were encountered.
Just 20%, or 49,405 people, were immediately expelled back across the border under Title 42, which remains in effect after the Supreme Court barred the Biden administration from ending the practice.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Among the southern border crossers apprehended by Border Patrol, 60,611 people arrived with a family member, 148,721 were single adults, and 11,849 were unaccompanied children.
