Federal law enforcement at the southern border encountered more than 78,000 people in January attempting to illegally enter the United States from Mexico, the highest number since the humanitarian crisis in the summer of 2019.
“This is not the time to come,” Troy Miller, senior official performing the duties of U.S. Customs and Border Protection commissioner, said in a statement issued late Wednesday.
The 78,000 people encountered in January more than doubles the 36,000 during January 2020. Half of all people encountered last month were adults from Mexico, a change from the majority of families who showed up on the border in 2019.
Approximately 75,000 of the 78,000 tried to cross illegally and were apprehended by Border Patrol agents who are stationed between official crossing points where vehicles and pedestrians are supposed to pass through to enter the U.S. The remaining 3,000 people were denied by CBP Office of Field Operations officers working at the border crossings.
CBP data revealed that more than one-third of those who snuck across the border were caught on at least one other occasion since last March, when the government began immediately returning people caught to Mexico instead of taking them into custody. From March 20, 2020, and Feb. 4, the recidivism rate averaged 38%, roughly four times the normal rate.
“While CBP continues to experience an increase in attempted monthly border crossings as seen since last April, the uptick seems to be occurring in a small fraction of locations across the southwest border, which is consistent with trends in years past,” said Miller.
The rise in illegal migration is due to a number of factors, including high crime and economic instability in sending countries across Central America and Mexico that have worsened due to the coronavirus pandemic, CBP said.
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The Trump administration completed 450 miles of border wall before President Biden halted all projects after taking office. While the wall is meant to deny entry at certain places, Border Patrol officials have said it also works to funnel people to certain places that do not have a barrier so that people trying to get into the U.S. can be easily apprehended by federal law enforcement.
Since the spring, the Border Patrol has immediately returned nearly all illegal immigrants to Mexico or their home countries under an initiative known as Title 42, which was implemented to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in small, crowded holding facilities on the border. In April, just 17,000 people were encountered on the southern border. That number increased month to month to around 70,000 through each month in the fall and early winter.
The government saw more than 977,000 attempts to cross the southern border illegally in fiscal year 2019, which ran from October 2018 through September 2019, making it the highest number since 2007. The humanitarian crisis at the border peaked during May, when more than 144,000 people were encountered.
The Biden administration has stopped pushing asylum seekers back into Mexico to await court proceedings under a Trump-era initiative known as the Migrant Protection Protocols. CBP said Wednesday that it “remains fully committed to implementing President Biden’s immigration and border security-related executive actions.”
Republicans from the House Homeland Security Committee on Thursday blamed Biden's policy changes for “causing a new crisis” and asked him to reconsider his administration’s actions and expand temporary holding facilities for illegal immigrants who cannot be immediately returned to Mexico.
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