US Shatters Record for Border Stops in Single Year — Despite June Drop
Callie Patteson, New York Post, July 18, 2022
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The US recorded more stops along the Mexico border so far in Fiscal 2022 than in any accounting year in the 20-year history of the Department of Homeland Security — with three months still to go.
In all, 207,416 migrant encounters were recorded in June, according to US Customs and Border Protection, for a total of 1,746,119 stops along the southern border since Oct. 1 — the most the agency has recorded for any fiscal year since 1960.
And the number of migrant encounters along the southern border hit that mark despite dropping 14% in June from May’s record high, according to data released by the Biden administration Friday.
Nationwide, border officials have encountered more than 2 million migrants since Oct. 1, 2021.
Fewer than half of those encountered in June — 92,274 — were expelled under the Trump-era Title 42 order, which has allowed rapid removal of migrants before their asylum claims are heard due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The number of unaccompanied children stopped at the border rose by 4% last month to 15,271 — with 752 being held on average per day in CBP custody. The number of family units apprehended slipped 13% to 51,780.
Encounters with lone adults made up 68% of June’s total, but dropped 15% from May to 140,197 — and only 56% of those adults were processed for expulsion under Title 42.
Lawmakers have blamed the Biden administration’s policies for the increase in border-crossers since the president took office {snip}
The changes have not gone unnoticed — even by the migrants themselves.
“First of all, he does not separate families,” one Colombian said in October. “Second, one can wait less, when before it was six months. Now it goes by faster to wait under asylum.”
A female migrant told a Daily Caller reporter at the time that it was easier to cross the border now than during the Trump administration.
“He’s giving us immigration opportunities,” the woman said of Biden. “He’s not selfish like President Trump because that man … he’s too bad and very racist, and we need a society that supports each other and not one that criticizes us because we are all the same.”
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Prior to last month, the highest number of migrants encountered in a fiscal year was 1,734,686 in FY 2021. Before that, the highest was 1,643,679 in FY 2000.
