The number of migrants encountered attempting to enter the United States illegally from Mexico in June topped 200,000 for the fourth consecutive month as the Biden administration struggles to respond to the humanitarian and security crisis.
U.S. border officials intercepted 207,416 noncitizens attempting to enter the country unlawfully last month, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data released late Friday. The number is down from nearly 240,000 in May but remains at historically elevated levels.
In the first 17 full months of President Joe Biden’s term in office, U.S. border officials have stopped 3.1 million people attempting to cross the southern border unlawfully, either after being denied admission at the ports of entry or trying to walk across in unfenced areas.
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Last month, approximately 192,000 were apprehended illegally crossing and taken into custody by the Border Patrol. The remaining 15,000 lacked proper documents to enter at the port.
The 207,416 total encounters in June far exceed the 50,000-encounter average over the past decade. They do not include people who successfully evaded detection when crossing the border illegally.
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Fewer than half of all people encountered were returned back across the border despite a pandemic public health policy known as Title 42 still being in place and requiring certain people not to be taken into custody due to the risk of spreading the coronavirus.
