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Border security

High migrant numbers break multiple records in new blow

to Biden border strategy
There were 269,735 migrant encounters at the southern border
By Adam Shaw Fox News

Published October 21, 2023 1:55pm EDT

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Fox News correspondent Griff Jenkins has the latest on the surge of migrants along the southern border on Special Report.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) on Saturday announced that migrant numbers at
the southern border for the month of September had reached new levels with the highest
monthly encounters on record as well as the highest fiscal year total on record, in a
significant blow to the Biden administration’s border strategy.

There were 269,735 migrant encounters in September, of which 218,763 were encountered
entering illegally by Border Patrol agents. That brings the yearly total for migrants at the
southern border for FY 23 to 2.48 million, higher than the 2.38 million in FY 22 and 1.73
million in FY 21. There were just 458,088 encounters in FY 2020.

Of those who entered, 43,000 individuals were processed in through ports of entry via the
controversial CBP One app, which allows migrants to schedule an appointment to be
paroled into the U.S.

HOUSE GOP CAMPAIGN ARM BLASTS TOP DEM LEADER FOR CALLING BORDER WALL
‘MEDIEVAL’

Migrants who crossed the Rio Grande and entered the U.S. from Mexico are lined up for processing by U.S. Customs and
Border Protection, September 23, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

Meanwhile, there were 18 encounters of people on the terror watch list between ports of
entry at the southern border, taking the total for FY 23 up to 169 — a new record and more
than the last six fiscal years combined.

Ina statement, acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said that the agency is surging
resources and personnel "in response to high rates of encounters" at the border. The White
House this week asked Congress for $14 billion in funding for its border strategy, including
more staffing and money for migrant services.

Miller also noted the start this week of deportation flights directly to Venezuela, where a
significant part of the migrant population is coming from.

"We are continually engaging with domestic and foreign partners to address historic
hemispheric migration, including large migrant groups traveling on freight trains, and to
enforce consequences, including by preparing for direct repatriations to Venezuela," Miller
said. "CBP will continue to remain vigilant, making operational adjustments as necessary
and enforcing consequences under U.S. immigration law."

"The supplemental funding request announced yesterday would provide critically needed
additional resources, including additional CBP agents and officers to support our essential
missions: from border and migration management, to countering fentanyl and keeping
dangerous drugs out of our communities," he said.

The numbers mark the latest blow for the Biden administration’s post-Title 42 border
strategy, which focused on reasserting "consequences" for illegal entry while working with
international partners and expanding what it calls "lawful pathways" for migrants to enter
the U.S.

HOUSE OVERSIGHT REPUBLICANS PUSH BIDEN DHS ON ‘CONFLICTING’ BORDER WALL

POSITIONS

Numbers dropped sharply after the end of Title 42 in May after record-high daily numbers
leading up to it, bucking predictions from Republicans that there would be an explosion in
encounters at the border.

As numbers remained relatively low through June, the administration pointed to the
numbers as a sign that the strategy was working — just as it called on Congress to provide
more funding and provide immigration reform to fix what it says is a "broken" overall
system.

"Our approach to managing the borders securely and humanely even within our
fundamentally broken immigration system is working," DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas
told House lawmakers in July. "Unlawful entries between ports of entry along the
southwest border have consistently decreased by more than half, compared to the peak
before the end of Title 42."

HAWLEY PUSHES MAYORKAS ON ENCOUNTERS OF ‘SPECIAL INTEREST ALIENS’ INTO

US AMID TERROR FEARS

Numbers skyrocketed in July, August and September, leading to increasing criticism from
not only Republicans but also Democratic officials in large cities, like New York which ,

have been overwhelmed by migrants flooding into their communities.

"This fiscal year may have ended, but the historic crisis at our Southwest border sparked
by Secretary Mayorkas’ policies rages on," House Homeland Security Committee Chairman
Mark Green said in a statement. "These numbers demonstrate beyond a doubt that
Secretary Mayorkas’ refusal to enforce the law and secure our border is jeopardizing our
safety and security. Additionally, CBP and the Border Patrol continue to be completely
overwhelmed by the flood of illegal immigration that has not stopped since he and
President Biden took office."

"We also can’t forget about the 1.7 million known gotaways, some of whom may be
seeking to cause the same type of devastation we saw in Israel on October 7. Secretary
Mayorkas’ policies have failed, but he has only doubled down on them," he said. "He must
be held accountable."

The administration has continued to lean heavily on "lawful pathways," including

establishing migrant processing centers in Central America to help migrants identify
refugee, parole and other pathways for which they may be eligible. It also granted
deportation protections and work permits for over 470,000 Venezuelan nationals last
month.

There have also been some signs of greater enforcement measures from the
administration, which this week touted not only its direct deportation flights to Venezuela,
which resumed this week, but also highlighted statistics that it has returned over 110,000
people via expedited removal since May. It has previously said that it has returned or
removed more people since Title 42 ended than in the same period in FY 2019 during the
Trump administration.

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas also recently cited an "acute and immediate need" to
waive federal regulations in order to build the border wall in South Texas this month, which
led to claims from Democrats and Republicans that it is changing its anti-wall position.
But DHS said it has been obligated to spend that money due to an FY 19 appropriation,
and that its position of opposing wall construction has not changed.

Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border
security.

He can be reached at adam.shaw2@fox.com or on Twitter .

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