Newly-released data for the month of April shows that the border crisis is still raging. According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), 247,837 illegal aliens were encountered at our nation’s borders in April. If the current pace continues, the U.S. will reach nearly 3.4 million illegal entries by the end of fiscal year (FY) 2024– a new record high.
April’s numbers may be down from the highest month ever recorded, December 2023, when nearly 12,000 illegal aliens were crossing on average each day. However, illegal border crossings remain extremely high – about 8,260 per day. Indeed, the number of encounters reported in April is on par with the previous three months, and similar to the month of April in fiscal years (FY) 2022 and 2023.
Secretary Mayorkas is already using April’s data to defend his open-borders policies. In an interview on NPR, the Secretary was asked if it was fair to say that his strategy isn’t working, given the sheer numbers of people who continue to cross the southern border. Mayorkas said it wasn’t a fair assessment and that he thinks the goal of eliminating “irregular migration” was indeed working. The evidence? Mayorkas said,“One, the numbers have decreased. Migration is a dynamic phenomenon, so the numbers increase and they decrease. But the numbers have decreased. We have also removed or returned an historic number of people more this year than I think in any year since 2011.”
Looking at the big picture, however, the Biden Administration continues to break records. The number of aliens encountered in the first seven months of FY 2024 has surpassed the number of illegal aliens encountered in President Biden’s first year of office (FY2021). And in total, since President Biden took office, more than 9.6 million illegal aliens have crossed our borders. That number does not include more than 1.8 million known gotaways.
In addition to the sustained, staggering number of encounters, there are other interesting details in the data for April. For instance, over half of the encounters (128,900) were intercepted by the Border Patrol between ports of entry. Also, the vast majority of illegal aliens encountered in April were single adults – more than 160,000, or 55% of all encounters.
In addition, 8,568 unaccompanied alien children were encountered in April. That equates to nearly 290 children under the age of 18 without a parent or guardian crossed our borders each day. Since Biden took office, a total of 513,204 unaccompanied alien children have been encountered at our borders. These children are immediately screened and often sent to the Department of Health and Human Services to be placed with sponsors in the United States.
The number of Chinese nationals crossing illegally also spiked in April, with more than 6,500 Chinese nationals encountered (up from about 5,000 in March). The number of Haitian nationals increased over last month by nearly 72%.
Regarding parole, CBP processed 41,400 illegal aliens for parole in April using the CBP One App. All told, DHS has processed and released over 591,000 illegal aliens using this process. In addition, through the end of April, 434,800 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans arrived on commercial flights and were released into the interior using parole authority.
While the Biden Administration may tout a decrease in border crossings, the numbers are still setting records and cannot be sustained. Moreover, any decrease in encounters from last December has nothing to do with the Biden Administration’s policies. It is the result of the President and Secretary Mayorkas pressuring Mexico and Central American countries to enforce their own immigration laws – something Biden is unwilling to do himself. For example, under U.S. pressure, Mexico recently began requiring visas from nationals of certain countries, such as Venezuela, Brazil, and Peru, to help stem the flow of migrants coming from the south. Some experts suggest that Mexico is cooperating to help President Biden overcome the negative media attention and poll numbers stemming from his failed policies.
Since this administration refuses to control the border and take action to avert the crisis, they have resorted to strong-arming our neighbors to do it for us. But, the fact remains: the open-borders strategy remains in place, the numbers are not decreasing, the crisis rages on, and the Biden administration refuses to acknowledge its part in creating the disaster.
