On Monday, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus admitted that the Biden administration’s decision to revoke the Trump-era Title 42 border security policy will “likely” cause an “increase in encounters” with illegal immigrants along the southern border.
“As a result of the CDC’s termination of its Title 42 public health order, we will likely face an increase in encounters above the current high levels,” Magnus said in a statement. “There are a significant number of individuals who were unable to access the asylum system for the past two years, and who may decide that now is the time to come.”
“We are doing everything we can to prepare for this increase, ensure we continue to process people humanely, and impose consequences on those who break the law. At the same time, we will continue to use all available resources to secure our borders,” the statement added.
According to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document obtained by ABC News, the agency expects as many as 18,000 migrants attempting to illegally cross the southern border per day due to the Biden administration’s decision to revoke Title 42.
“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.”
The news comes as the crisis at the border continues to worsen and overwhelm border agents. According to preliminary government data reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, “Border Patrol has made approximately 7,000 arrests each day in March, according to preliminary government data seen by The Wall Street Journal. That puts the U.S. on pace to record more than 200,000 arrests for March, the highest monthly total in at least 22 years, and more than a million for the first six months of the government’s fiscal year.”
