Nearly a quarter of a million total encounters were reported on the southern border in November, breaking the record for the month amid an ongoing illegal immigration crisis.
A full 242,418 enforcement encounters were reported on the southern border in November of fiscal year (FY) 2024 while a total of 308,728 encounters were reported by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) nationwide during the month.
The record-breaking figure was released just two days before Christmas Eve, prompting outrage from Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee Mark Green, who says the Biden administration is working to hide the spike in border brossings.
“By strategically holding the release of these numbers until the Friday before Christmas, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is unabashedly showing the full measure of his duplicity,” Green said, blasting the timing of the release of the newest figures. “These numbers are so bad, he wants as few Americans to see them as possible.”
“This cowardly quest to evade accountability is further reason why my committee is initiating impeachment proceedings against Secretary Mayorkas early in the new year,” Green said.
The record-breaking number of enforcement encounters in November of FY 2024 marks an increase of over 7,000 from the 235,000 southern border enforcement encounters reported in FY 2023 and a shocking surge from the 174,000 and 72,000 enforcement encounters in FY’s 2022 and 2021 respectively. There have been a total of over 7 million encounters on the southwest border since fiscal year 2021.
Nonstop illegal crossings into Eagle Pass. pic.twitter.com/0ICPLr272Q
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) December 20, 2023
The newly released numbers come amid a broader surge in illegal immigration, with an estimated 1.7 million illegal immigrant gotaways being recorded since Biden took office in 2021. The figure marks roughly a quadrupling of illegal immigrant gotaways compared to 2018, 2019, and 2020 under the Trump administration, when about 415,000 gotaways were reported by CBP.
NEW: Lukeville, AZ right now. Only 2 Border Patrol agents here to move this mass of hundreds of illegal immigrants from around the world to a processing area. We continue to see enormous numbers of men from Africa who tell us they are going to sanctuary cities around the US. pic.twitter.com/zTSVLJFTGp
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) December 22, 2023
Reports in May found that there are roughly 2.1 million immigration court cases, with some foreign nationals receiving court dates as late as 2032 and 2035.
Multiple public opinion surveys indicate that voters disapprove of Biden’s handling of the border. One 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 the border, while only 35% approve.