More than two million migrants have been arrested at the Mexico border in a year for the first time in history.
The record, revealed in Customs and Border Patrol records compiled at the border, comes amid a continued flow of migrants in Texas, Arizona, and California.
The figures show a spike this spring, with 241,000 law enforcement encounters, with numbers staying above 200,000 each month since even after a drop.
The total was 203,000 in August.
The figures cover an 11-month period, so the grand total won’t be revealed until after the end of the fiscal year Sept. 30th.
Border agents have had more than 2 million encounters with migrants at the Souther Border during the fiscal year – a new record – with another month of border apprehensions to add to the data
The number of arrests spike in the spring, but remained elevated through the summer
The migrants came from Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua stopped by law enforcement hi 56,000 last month, up from 50,000 in July, and spiking from 23,000 in August, administration officials said. That includes 18,000 encounters with Venezuelans, with most around Eagle Pass and Del Rio, Texas.
It is harder for the U.S. to return migrants to those host countries due to political tensions.
‘Failing communist regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Cuba are driving a new wave of migration across the Western Hemisphere, including the recent increase in encounters at the southwest U.S. border,’ said Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus.
‘At the same time, the number of migrants entering from Mexico and northern Central America has decreased for the third consecutive month, as the Biden-Harris Administration works with our partners in the region to address the root causes of migration, facilitate repatriation, and take thousands of smugglers off the streets,’ he added.
The Border Patrol reported a spike in apprehensions this spring, with monthly totals still surpassing 200,000
The immigration issue has dogged President Biden throughout his term
Migrants entering from Mexico and northern Central America has dropped for three months in a row
The latest figures come after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ moved to fly Venezuelan immigrants to liberal Martha’s Vineyard
Those from Mexico and Central America were just over a third of encounters, or 36 per cent, with a decline of 43 per cent.
The crush of Venezuelan migrants seeking to enter the U.S. was brought into focus when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) used government funds to send a plane of migrants in Texas to liberal Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts.
The GOP governors of Texas and Arizona have shipped migrants to New York, Washington, D.C., with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott even sending migrants who were deposited on the road outside Harris’ official residence in Washington.
The record for last year was 1.73 million, demonstrating a continued increase.
The Republican National Committee pushed the new figures in a release that noted the ‘more than 4.4 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border since Biden took office.’
The inability to slow the flow of migrants has been a political headache for Biden throughout his tenure, and it has also caused trouble for Vice President Kamala Harris, who last week took heat for saying ‘the border is secure.’
Harris as part of her portfolio took to trying to slow migration from ‘Golden Triangle’ countries in Central America, in part by working on ‘root causes’ of migration.
‘What we stand by is that we are doing everything that we can to make sure that we follow the process that’s been put forth,’ said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. ‘That’s why we have historic funding to do just that, to make sure that the folks that we encounter at the border be removed or expelled.’
President Joe Biden has called for enacting comprehensive immigration reforms but the legislation is stalled.
The August figures were a 1.7 per cent increase from July, and more than a fifth– 22 per cent – had made a prior attempt to cross the border over the last year.
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