Arrests by the Border Patrol have now soared to the highest levels ever recorded.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Texas Insider Report) — Border enforcement has become a major political liability for President Joe Biden, and the president’s handling of "Biden Border Crisis" and immigration issues in general remains his worst-polling issue. Its no wonder, given that unpublished U.S. Customs & Border Protection data released by the Washington Post last week reveal U.S. authorities detained more than 1.7 million illegal border crossers along the Mexico Border during the 2021 Fiscal Year that ended in September.
In the fiscal years between 2012 and 2020, border arrests averaged about 540,000. The 2021 figure is more than three times that amount.
Making matters worse for the Biden presidency, the 1.7 million figure for migrants arrested does not include the unknown number of illegal immigrants detected by CBP sensors, video cameras or agents, who successfully evaded capture after making an illegal entry. Known as “gotaway” incidents, the agency does not publish gotaway estimates – which officials have reported averages more than 1,000 per day in recent months.
Mexico was the single largest source of illegal migration during the 2021 year, as the Border Patrol arrested more than 608,000 Mexican nationals.As Customs & Border Protection (CBP) arrests increased this past spring, Biden described the rise as consistent with historical seasonal norms – but the busiest months came during the sweltering heat of July and August, when more than 200,000 migrants per month were taken into custody.
The CBP’s Rio Grande Valley Sector was the busiest during the 2021 fiscal year, with 549,000 Border Patrol apprehensions. It was followed by the Del Rio sector with 259,000 apprehensions, which eclipsed historically busier sectors such as the El Paso, Texas and Tucson, Arizona Sectors.
Immediatly after being sworn into office, Biden quickly halted construction on the Border Wall, ended the “Remain in Mexico” policy, reversed key asylum restrictions, and announced a 100-day pause on most deportations and enforcement by U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement.
Many migrants have told reporters they opted to make the journey north – at great cost and considerable danger – with the belief that Biden would allow them to stay.
Immediatly after being sworn into office, Biden quickly halted construction on the Border Wall, ended the “Remain in Mexico” policy, reversed key asylum restrictions, and announced a 100-day pause on most deportations and enforcement by U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement.
Many migrants have told reporters they opted to make the journey north – at great cost and considerable danger – with the belief that Biden would allow them to stay.
Earlier this year, Biden directed Vice President Harris to address the “root causes” of migration from Central America’s Northern Triangle nations – Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. But the strategy has had little to no measurable effect, and Harris has distanced herself from the border and immigration issues generally.
The latest CBP data indicates that the administration’s challenges extend far beyond Central America.
Biden officials have said recently that they are in negotiations with Mexico to comply with federal court orders to restart the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which requires asylum seekers to wait outside U.S. territory while their cases are processed.
Following the Border Patrol's more than 608,000 arrests of Mexican nationals, the second-largest grouping was composed of migrants from outside Mexico and Central America, including Haitians, Venezuelans, Ecuadorans, Cubans, Brazilians and migrants from dozens of other nations.
They accounted for 367,000 arrests, and were followed by:
- 309,000 migrants from Honduras
- 279,000 migrants from Guatemala, and
- 96,000 migrants from El Salvador
“Migration to the U.S.-Mexico border is now truly global,” said Cris Ramón, an independent immigration consultant in Washington. “This has become a far more complex problem for the administration to deal with.”
In just the nine months since Biden took office, more than 1.3 million migrants have been taken into custody along the southern border, the latest CBP figures show. The 1.7 million figure includes migrants arrested between ports of entry by the Border Patrol, as well as those who attempted to enter the United States without authorization through official ports of entry who were detained by blue-uniformed CBP officers.
The extraordinary influx has produced a series of crises for the administration, starting this spring with record numbers of unaccompanied minors crossing without parents who were crowded shoulder to shoulder into Border Patrol tents.
Crossings by Central Americans overwhelmed U.S. agents this summer, and in September, the sudden arrival of 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants to a crude camp in Del Rio, Tex., produced politically damaging scenes of chaos and harsh enforcement tactics.
As Biden’s proposals for a major immigration overhaul have stalled in Congress, immigrant advocates who backed Biden’s candidacy have increasingly soured on his presidency, with several staging a virtual walkout last weekend during a meeting with White House policy advisers.
