Over 221,000 migrants were apprehended attempting to illegally cross the southern border in March, the highest number since President Biden took office.
“Customs and Border Protection said in a court filing Friday that 221,303 migrants were encountered at the southern border in March. That’s approximately 28% higher than March 2021 when 173,277 migrants were encountered. In March 2020, just 34,460 migrants were encountered at the border,” Fox News reported.
“The number is bigger than last year’s high of 213,953 in July and is the third time under Biden that there have been more than 200,000 migrants at the border — which only occurred in two months at the height of the 2021 surge,” the outlet continued. “While numbers dipped since July, they have remained comparatively high compared to the same months in prior years — never dipping below 150,000. Now, as the spring and summer months approach, they are already well above 200,000.”
As noted by Fox News’ Bill Melugin, “This means there have been 1,026,460 encounters in the first 6 months of FY’ 22, which began on 10/1. In the first 6 months of record setting FY’21, there were only 570,826 encounters. This means the first 6 months of FY’22 are up 79% over the first 6 months of FY’21”
This means there have been 1,026,460 encounters in the first 6 months of FY' 22, which began on 10/1. In the first 6 months of record setting FY'21, there were only 570,826 encounters.
This means the first 6 months of FY'22 are up 79% over the first 6 months of FY'21 @FoxNews— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) April 16, 2022
The news comes after the Biden administration announced that it would be ending Title 42, a Trump-era border security policy, in May. The decision is expected to further worsen the border crisis. According to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document obtained by ABC News, the end of the policy will result in as many as 18,000 migrants crossing the southern border illegally each day.
“The DHS Office of Immigration Statistics (OIS) produced projections for post-Title 42 Southwest Border encounters describing low, medium, high, or very high encounter scenarios,” the document says. “These scenarios underpin planning assumptions that generate requirements which in turn drive operational execution. Based on these projections the SBCC is currently planning for 6,000, 12,000 (high) and 18,000 (very high) encounters per day.”
