More On: illegal immigrants Terror threat at the border: Letters to the Editor — Sept.1, 2023 Biden didn’t meet with Hochul about NY migrant crisis because he ‘has a lot on his plate’: WH Quick work permits for migrants is unfair way to make crisis worse Business leaders’ plea to Biden: Letters to the Editor — Aug.31, 2023 Record numbers of migrant families crossed the US-Mexico border in August , a bombshell new report said this week after The Post revealed that US officials have inexplicably welded open more than 100 gates along the Arizona border.
US Border Patrol officials arrested at least 91,000 migrants who crossed the border as part of family groups, according to preliminary data obtained by the Washington Post — beating the previous one-month record of 84,486 migrant families arrested in May 2019, under the Trump administration.
Migrant families accounted for the largest demographic group crossing the border in August, surpassing single adults for the first time since President Biden took office in 2020.
The August tally brings the number of “family member units” surrendering at the border over the fiscal year to more than half a million people, another record.
Officials also saw a marked increase in the number of unaccompanied minors crossing into the country.
The uptick in illegal crossings comes as The Post revealed that US officials have welded open 114 massive gates along the Arizona border to allow water to flow freely during the annual monsoon season, which typically runs from June through September.
Erin Heeter, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, blamed the steady stream of crossings on “ebbs and flows of migrants arriving, fueled by seasonal trends and the efforts of smugglers to prey on vulnerable migrants and encourage migration.”
A record-number of migrant families crossed the southern border in August.James Breeden/Shutterstock for NY Post The August tally brings the number of “family member units” surrendering at the border over the fiscal year to more than half a million people, another record.New York Post Migrant families accounted for the largest demographic group crossing the border in August, surpassing single adults for the first time since President Biden took office in 2020.Daniel William McKnight
The latest Customs and Border Protection data show that more than 54,000 migrants were processed in August at the US border, where the Biden administration is allowing up to 1,450 migrants each day to schedule an appointment to enter the country legally using a mobile app.
That increased the total number of migrants encountered by CBP agents at the southern border in August to about 230,000 — the highest one-month total of 2023.
Overall, border arrests rose more than 30% from July through August, after falling sharply in May and June, when the Biden administration rolled out new migration restrictions.
But Heeter said the government also ramped up deportation flights carrying families in August, and since May has repatriated more than 17,000 parents and children.
Erin Heeter, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, blamed the uptick on smugglers preying on desperate migrant families.REUTERS The total number of migrants encountered by CBP agents at the southern border in August increased to about 230,000 — the highest one-month total of 2023.
Daniel William McKnight
She said the Biden administration is trying to slow the number of illegal entries by expanding lawful immigration and increasing the penalties for border crossings.
One such program accepts nearly 30,000 applicants each month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who obtain authorization to live and work in the United States for two years if they have a financial sponsor and clear background checks.
The program, known as parole, allows the migrants to fly into the country rather than cross at the border.
Since it was enacted two years ago, illegal crossings from those countries have decreased as at least 541,000 entered the country under the program, according to CBS News.
But at the same time, there have been major increases in migration from Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, Peru and a slew of Asian and African countries.
In May, the Biden administration unveiled another solution to the migrant crisis — the Family Expedited Removal Management Program, which places some heads of households under GPS monitoring and into the fast-track deportation system.
But fewer than 100 family members have been deported under that program, CBS reported, as a majority of the migrants are released into the United States, where they are allowed to live and work while their humanitarian claims are processed in the judicial system.
A majority of the migrants are released into the United States, where they are allowed to live and work while their humanitarian claims are processed in the judicial system.James Breeden/Shutterstock for NY Post
It typically takes several years for the backlogged US immigration courts to reach a decision on each migrant’s claims, The Post reported, and the process rarely ends in deportation.
Backlogs at immigration court stand at 2.5 million cases waiting to be heard, according to figures compiled by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
To expedite the process, the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department in 2021 created a “dedicated” immigration court docket in 11 cities to adjudicate family cases within 300 days of their initial hearing.
It operates in Boston, Denver, Detroit, El Paso, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New York, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle.
It remains unclear, however, how families are assigned to the faster docket.
In the meantime, the FBI is said to be scrambling to locate more than a dozen Uzbek natives who crossed into the United States with the help of a smuggler who has ties to ISIS.
Authorities say no specific ISIS plot has been identified, and nothing in any of the migrants’ background checks raised any red flags..
