This week, the Biden administration proved that their bombed-out border could in fact get worse.
The crisis started by Joe Biden on day one of his presidency is seeing record-breaking numbers of illegal border crossings, particularly by unaccompanied minors.
The Biden administration revealed 834 migrant children without a parent or guardian were encountered at the southern border Wednesday, reportedly the highest daily number in history.
A daily report from Biden’s Health and Human Services showed the number of unaccompanied children attempting to illegally cross the border:
Kids apprehended Aug. 4: 834
Kids in CBP custody: 2,784
Kids transferred out of CBP custody: 591
Kids in HHS care: 14,523
U.S. authorities likely picked up more than 19,000 unaccompanied children in July, exceeding the previous high of 18,877 in March. The June total was 15,253.
The number of people encountered in families during July is expected at about 80,000, according to Border Officials. That’s shy of the all-time high of 88,857 in May 2019 but up from 55,805 in June.
Overall, U.S. authorities stopped migrants about 210,000 times at the border in July, up from 188,829 in June and the highest in more than 20 years. But the numbers aren’t directly comparable because many cross repeatedly under a pandemic-related ban that expels people from the country immediately without giving them a chance to seek asylum but carries no legal consequences.
The activity was overwhelmingly concentrated in the Border Patrol’s Del Rio and Rio Grande Valley sectors in south Texas, accounting for more than seven of 10 people who came in families.
In the Rio Grande Valley sector, the “epicenter of the current surge,” agents stopped migrants about 78,000 times in July, up from 59,380 in June and 51,149 in May.
The government disclosures came in a court filing hours after immigrant advocacy groups resumed a legal battle to end the government’s authority to expel families at the border on grounds it prevents the spread of the coronavirus.
The CDC renewed those emergency powers Monday, known as Title 42 and named for a 1944 public health law. The Homeland Security Department said it would continue to enforce the ban on asylum for single adults and families despite growing pressure from pro-immigration groups who claim it is not justified on public health grounds. Unaccompanied children are exempt.
Author: Nolan Sheridan
