Border facilities are slammed with migrants and officials are mass releasing immigrants into the U.S. interior while thousands more stream into the country.
The Biden administration has yet to release official immigration totals for the month of August, but reports suggest numbers are climbing back to the peak in May. From Friday to Monday, an average of 9,000 immigrants a day reportedly crossed the southern border. On Monday alone, over 9,700 immigrants were reportedly caught or processed crossing the southern border illegally and through ports of entry.
NEW: Past four days (Fri-Mon) total migrant encounters at the SW border (BP+OFO) exceeded 35k at an average of nearly 9,000 per day per CBP sources. Exact count: 35,573 encounters / 8,893 daily average… This does NOT include Known Gotaways @FoxNews
— Griff Jenkins (@GriffJenkins) September 19, 2023
NEW: Per CBP sources, in the last 24 hours, Border Patrol apprehended over 8,000 illegal immigrants, & when combined w/ CBP ports of entry, there were a staggering 9,700+ migrant encounters across the border in one day. Highest day on record was 10,000+ in May before T42 ended.
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) September 19, 2023
Neither total includes got-aways, leaving the real number of immigrants who entered the country almost certainly higher. The record for daily crossings was set back in May before the repeal of Title 42 — roughly above 10,000 a day.
The climb in border crossings comes several months after the Biden administration touted a 70% decline in illegal immigration after the repeal of Title 42, the Trump-era health order that allowed border authorities to block immigrants seeking asylum on COVID-related grounds.
Immigration has since ticked back up because of parole programs that greatly expanded legal avenues into the U.S. and cooling temperatures making the trek from Central and South America easier.
Over the weekend, a freight train loaded with what appeared to be hundreds of immigrants was filmed leaving Zacatecas, Mexico, on its way to the United States. A freight train loaded with immigrants was filmed a couple days later stopped in the Mexican city of Monclova en route to Piedras Negras, which is just across the international border from Eagle Pass, Texas.
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Monclova, Coahuila, MX: A train with hundreds of migrants was stopped in Monclova, 147 miles before reaching Piedras Negras.
“Let us continue” is chanted by the migrants, who took the cargo train in Monterrey and are en route to Piedras Negras, where a group of approximately… pic.twitter.com/x03s8tdXBW
— Auden B. Cabello (@CabelloAuden) September 19, 2023
Further south in Panama, the Darien Gap is seeing historic foot traffic as immigrants move from South America toward the U.S. southern border. The gap is a strip of undeveloped forest and swamp connecting North and South America that takes roughly a week to hike through. Immigrants who attempt the crossing must walk through miles of rough terrain. The journey is fatal for many.
The number of immigrants chancing the land crossing to Central America has exploded in recent years from just a few hundred annually a decade ago to an expected 400,000 in 2023. As more and more people hike the gap, volunteers, NGOs, and others are making the trip easier for migrants, according to independent journalist Michael Yon.
“The routes through the jungle are now much shorter and much easier, and they’re still extremely dangerous. Even as I talk right now, there will definitely be people dying,” Yon told The Daily Wire. “Dozens of people die per day out there, but the numbers are much lower now than they used to be.”
President Joe Biden has failed to manage the immigration crisis swamping the border since his term began. Some immigrants have credited Biden’s lax immigration policies for encouraging them to risk lengthy, dangerous journeys to the southern border. Other draws to the U.S. come from housing developments such as Colony Ridge outside of Houston, however.
Colony Ridge promises plots of land for those with the cash — regardless of immigration status. The development has become a draw for illegal immigrants and drug cartels. Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas said he is investigating the housing development after an investigation by The Daily Wire.
“So my staff is pushing on the Department of Homeland Security and Texas DPS to get us additional information on this. It’s highly concerning,” Roy told The Daily Wire. “I’m not in a position to fully articulate exactly what’s happening other than it is problematic and a continuation of these wide open border policies, where they’re trying to figure out where to put people.”