The top U.S. border official criticized the nearly 70,000 migrants encountered at the southern border in October who he said knowingly put federal law enforcement’s lives at risk.
“Against the backdrop of an unprecedented public health crisis, those attempting to illegally enter our country are actually increasing,” said acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan in a conference call Thursday afternoon. “The migrants themselves, what we’re encountering, they know or highly suspect that they have COVID, yet they still try to illegally enter.”
Approximately 69,000 migrants illegally attempted to enter the U.S. from Mexico in October, including people who tried to enter at vehicle crossings but did not have proper documentation. That figure is up 20% from September and four times greater than the 17,100 people encountered in April.
“As COVID-19 is driving worsening economic conditions in the Western Hemisphere, and the perceived shifts in policy, illegal immigration follows,” Morgan said. “This means CBP agents and officers are continuously coming into contact with tens of thousands of illegal aliens.”
Morgan, who oversees 60,000 employees, said the surge in illegal migration indicated that migrants believe “their wants and needs are more important” than his employees’ lives.
CBP has had 14 employees die who contracted the coronavirus while working.
Border Patrol agents arrest migrants who illegally cross between ports of entry. They are immediately returning people to Mexico or their home countries, per a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The move prevents tens of thousands of people from being brought into Border Patrol’s dozens of small stations, located up and down the southern border, where migrants are normally held several days before being transferred to another agency or returned to Mexico.
