Official Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data is expected next week, but the Washington Examiner reports Thursday that the number of illegal alien apprehensions at the United States-Mexico border climbed again in June, bringing the U.S. close to one million illegal immigrant encounters since the beginning of 2021.
“U.S. border officials are expected to reveal soon that they encountered nearly 190,000 illegal immigrants in June, a 450% explosion over last June and the latest sign that President Joe Biden’s open-door policy has completely redrawn migration patterns,” the Examiner reported Thursday, based on a discussion with sources.
“Unofficial and preliminary calculations suggest that the number will be 188,000, said a knowledgeable source. At such a high level, it would show the flaw in the claims by the administration and the media that the Biden surge so far has been simply a seasonal trend that would stall in hot months,” the outlet noted.
Last June, there were just 33,000 illegal alien apprehensions at the southern border. That was down significantly from June of 2019 when Customs and Border Protection arrested more than 100,000 illegal immigrants, likely because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which kept borders shut, the Title 42 immigration provision that allowed Border Patrol to expel migrants without an official assessment, and President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, which kept asylum seekers south of the border until their hearing date.
If the numbers hold, as they are expected to, that means that CBP will have encountered nearly one million illegal immigrants n just six months — and because the Biden administration has shown no interest in changing immigration policies, could be on track to see one million more.
“From January to May, 711,784 migrants were encountered by Customs and Border Protection at the southern border – five times the amount during the same period in 2020 – and the Biden administration is on track to encounter 1 million by the end of July,” the Daily Mail noted following the Examiner report. “Border officials are expected to reveal that they encountered 188,000 illegal immigrants in June.”
Without a change in policy, Republican lawmakers warn that the trend of nearly 200,000 apprehensions per month could continue, leaving the United States facing a major influx.
It’s also not clear how many of the illegal immigrants apprehended at the southern border are being allowed to remain in the country. Asylum seekers who presented themselves at border crossings after Inauguration Day are being reportedly being given hearing dates and then released into the United States to await adjudication under a Biden administration refresh of the Obama administration policy of “catch-and-release.”
The Biden administration is reportedly “looking into ways to address the crisis after two separate polls last month showed only one-third of American adults approve of Biden and Harris handling of the southern border,” according to the Daily Mail. “One idea is getting more funding for technology at CBP and other border agencies to allow them to more easily surveil the border and stop these illegal crossings from happening in the first place.”
That funding, though, does not include additional funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement as the Daily Wire reported, and will not, by President Joe Biden’s decree, contain additional funding for border security measures. Governor Greg Abbott of Texas announced last month that he plans to build his own border “barrier” inside the Texas boundary to help CBP, going around rules preventing states from performing the federal duty of enforcing border security.