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There were nearly 190,000 migrant encounters at the southern border in June, the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said on Friday – a further increase from what was already a high number of borders, and bringing the total number of matches during fiscal year (FY) 2021 to more than one million.
CBP said 188,829 migrants were encountered at the southern border, an increase from the 180,034 encountered in May. It’s also a big increase since President Biden took office – there were 78,442 meetings in January.
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Compared to 2020, the numbers are incredibly higher. Only 33,049 migrants were encountered in June 2020. This is even more than the figures for June 2019, when the border was in the middle of what was then a historic border crisis – 104,311 were encountered two years ago. years.
The June figures also bring the number of fixtures in fiscal 2021 to over one million, with three months to go. This is in comparison to just over 458,000 for the entire fiscal year 2020 and 977,509 for the entire fiscal year 2019.
“We are in the hottest part of the summer and we are seeing a high number of distress calls to CBP from migrants abandoned in dangerous terrain by smugglers with no regard for human life,” he said. Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said in a statement.
“While CBP is doing everything possible to locate and rescue those lost or in distress, the bottom line is this: the terrain along the border is extreme, the summer heat is intense and the miles of desert migrants must travel for miles after crossing the border. in many areas are ruthless. “
CBP said the numbers are higher in part because of the number of repeat encounters due to the deportation of migrants via Title 42 – a Trump-era public health order that the Biden administration is using to quickly dismiss single adults and some migrant families. The agency said 104,907 migrants were deported via Title 42 in June.
However, the number of unaccompanied children seen increased by 8%, with 15,253 encounters in June compared to 14,137 in May. Family unit meetings, meanwhile, jumped 25% to 55,805 from 44,746 in May.
At the same time, drug seizures were down 30% overall from May, with methamphetamine seizures decreasing by 22%, but fentanyl seizures increasing by 12%.
The Biden administration has worked to bring the crisis to the southern border under control, and most of its efforts have been devoted to treating migrants inside – especially unaccompanied children and migrant families who are not returned by Title 42.
The administration touted how it emptied the border patrol facilities, which led to the release of migrant families inside – often without a hearing date – and the displacement of children to facilities. health and social services (HHS). There are currently over 16,000 in HHS facilities. There has been little emphasis on the deportation of migrants, other than the immediate Title 42 deportations.
“They have put in place technology that over the past two months has dramatically accelerated the processing of people arriving at our border,” Vice President Kamala Harris said last month.
This angered Republicans, who complained about the influx of migrants inside and the distribution of migrants by air to states, often without lawmakers knowing how many and when.
Republicans blamed the increase in the number of migrants on the Biden administration, pointing to its retreat from policies such as migrant protection protocols – which required migrants in Mexico to wait for their hearings – and the end of the construction of the wall border.
States have launched a number of lawsuits against these policies and Texas has begun to build its own wall on its southern border.
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Rather, the Biden administration blamed “root causes” like poverty, violence and climate change in Central America. Vice President Kamala Harris visited Guatemala and Mexico in June, and the Del Rio area of Texas later in the month, under pressure from the issue.
Meanwhile, there are reports that the administration plans to end Title 42, at least for migrant families, later this month. Former Trump officials have warned that while there may be a slight decrease in the number of encounters (due to fewer migrants having to try to cross multiple times), the number of migrants crossing and released inside will likely increase significantly.
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“It doesn’t matter whether it’s this month or early August, the timing is horrible,” former acting DHS secretary Chad Wolf told Fox News. “We are in the midst of a historic crisis at this border, and instead of trying to implement measures that attempt to address this problem, they are doing the exact opposite.”
“They are not prepared for this, I think they will do it, because they want an open border program, but it is going to be catastrophic,” said former acting director of immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Thomas Homan. “I think the numbers are going to be very, very high.”
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