Apprehensions of illegal immigrants surged from 132,652 in July to more than 177,000 in August, preliminary data reported by The Washington Post reveals.
The figure indicates that illegal border crossing attempts have consistently and substantially increased month over month since June, which experienced 99,539 reported apprehensions.
The preliminary data reported by The Washington Post indicate that August also saw the crossing of 91,000 migrants who were categorized as part of a family unit, breaking the previous record of 84,486 in May of 2019.
The recent figures come as White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed that the Biden administration is “stopping the flow at the border.” Jean-Pierre also claimed that Biden has “done more” to secure the border “than anybody else.”
Illegal border crossings have surged under the Biden administration, with an estimated 1.5 million illegal immigrant gotaways being recorded since Biden took office in 2021. There were 415,000 total reported gotaways for 2018, 2019, and 2020 under the Trump administration. The number of illegal border crossings jumped to a record high in fiscal year 2022.
There’s also been a 1,000% increase in illegal immigration from a number of different countries, including China, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and the Dominican Republic, among other countries.
Americans living in border communities have expressed growing concern over their family’s safety, with one wife of a border patrol agent telling The Daily Wire that illegal immigrants have tried to lure her daughters out of the house in the middle of the night.
Border Patrol wife tells @realDailyWire that an illegal immigrant knocked on her seven year-old daughter's window late at night.
"Mommy, mommy, there's bad guys at my window."
"I grabbed my firearm and I went out and had to push a group of illegals off of our property." pic.twitter.com/IHY8f6X8AS
— Spencer Lindquist 🇺🇸 (@SpencerLndqst) May 24, 2023
But the record-high increases in illegal immigration have also strained major cities far north of the border like Chicago and New York, which have struggled to house foreign nationals. Chicago passed a measure to provide $51 million in funding to house and feed migrants, while 50 places of worship in New York City are now being used to accommodate foreign nationals.
New York residents recently protested a potential plan to convert a former nursing home into a housing center for migrants.
Illegal immigration has even spiked on the northern border, jumping 36% in July. There were 916 recorded encounters at the northern border in fiscal year 2021, but the numbers have since increased to 2,238 in fiscal year 2022. There have now been 7,633 encounters between October 2022 and July 2023.
One northern border patrol agent was allegedly assaulted while making apprehensions in the Swanton Border Patrol sector, which spans New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York.
Estimates have found that illegal immigration costs United States taxpayers approximately $151 billion every year, with a recent report from Republicans on the House Homeland Security Committee finding that illegal immigration places significant financial strain on the American medical system.
Multiple public opinion surveys indicate that voters disapprove of Biden’s handling of the border. A Fox News poll, which surveyed more than 1,000 registered voters in late June, found that 62% of respondents disapproved of Biden’s handling of immigration, while only 35% approve.