The number of illegal immigrant encounters across the U.S. southern border for December 2022 rose to a monthly record, with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) reporting a figure that topped a quarter of a million.
Among the December encounters, 14 percent of involved individuals who had been stopped by a U.S. border agent in the previous 12 months.
New Border Enforcement Measures
Despite the record-breaking figure, CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller said that the Biden administration’s efforts at the border have been effective.“Early data suggests the expanded measures for Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans are having a similar impact, and we look forward to sharing the additional data in the next update.”
Under the parole program, Venezuelans who walk or swim across the border as of Oct. 12, 2022, will be returned to Mexico under the Trump-era policy Title 42, which allows for blocking asylum claims and swift expulsion of most unauthorized border crossers under the grounds of keeping contagious diseases out of the United States.
Until Oct. 12, 2022, Venezuelans weren’t subject to expulsion under Title 42 because neither their home country nor another country was willing to take them. Prior to the new measures, illegal immigrants from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico were subject to expulsion from the United States under Title 42.
Biden Expands Parole Authority
President Joe Biden in early January expanded the parole program to nationals of Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti, which means they can apply for parole, and if they meet eligibility criteria, they can receive a two-year permit to work in the United States. Now, the nationals from these three countries and Venezuela who unlawfully cross the U.S. southern border are now also subject to expulsion under Title 42, with Mexico agreeing to receive up to 30,000 expelled people a month.‘Catastrophic Crisis’
Mark Morgan, former acting CBP commissioner and Heritage Foundation visiting fellow, called the situation at the border a “catastrophic crisis” and said the Biden administration has misrepresented the situation there.“What’s been happening at the border the last two years continues to be a catastrophic crisis, and the White House, Secretary Mayorkas, and the open-borders advocates on the left continue to lie about it,” he told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement. “Under the last Democratic president, 25,000 encounters was a borderline crisis—for the Biden administration, 10 times that number is simply business as usual.”
Morgan said the Biden administration’s open-border policies have all “abjectly failed, yet [Mayorkas] continues to absurdly claim the opposite.”
“No sane person could look at the border and claim we’re on the right course. Any other secretary would have long ago resigned in shame and disgrace, but it’s clear Secretary Mayorkas simply has no shame to begin with. So, Congress must immediately move to impeach him, begin meaningful oversight, and pass legislation to end the crisis and reduce illegal immigration.”
Since Biden took office in 2021 and scaled back or terminated key Trump-era policies, illegal immigration has soared to record levels.
“Joe Biden is the first president in my lifetime to intentionally un-secure the border. By way of more than 90 executive orders, he undid the successful Trump-era policies that brought illegal immigration to a 40-year low and gave us the most secure border of our lifetimes,” Tom Homan, former acting ICE director and Heritage visiting fellow, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement.
“This president and his team were warned what would happen if they got rid of those policies. They did it anyway, and you’re looking at the consequences.
“More Americans than ever dying from fentanyl flooding across the southwest border. More women and children abused and sexually assaulted on the dangerous journey through Central America and Mexico. More migrants found dead on U.S. soil than ever. Record profits for the cartels as they traffic and smuggle historic numbers of drugs and people across the border.
“It’s inhumane. It’s a slap in the face to the men and women of the Border Patrol, who are absolutely overwhelmed, as well as to ICE agents who’ve been told they can’t detain or deport most of those who break our laws.”
