Encounters of illegal migrants on the southern border exceed 547,000 in less than three months

Border Patrol encounters of migrants illegally crossing the southern border topped 547,000 in less than three months of fiscal year 2024, according to preliminary internal data obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The number of encounters, which reached 547,593 as of Thursday morning, is higher than the number of encounters recorded in the first three months of any fiscal year before President Joe Biden took office, according to the federal government. data dating back to 1999. Between October and December 2022, the Border Patrol recorded 634,832 encounters with illegal migrants, seconds to federal data.

The Border Patrol recorded 153,613 encounters during the first three months of fiscal year 2019 and 101,779 encounters during the same period of fiscal year 2020, according to federal data. It recorded 209,342 encounters between October and December of fiscal year 2021 and 496,730 encounters during those same months of fiscal year 2022.

As of early Thursday, the Border Patrol had more than 24,000 illegal migrants in custody across the country, according to the data, which showed three sectors of the southern border — Del Rio, Rio Grande Valley and Tucson — exceeded capacity. retention On Wednesday, the Border Patrol released 8,388 illegal migrants into the country.

The Del Rio sector of Texas, which includes Eagle Pass, exceeded 190 percent of capacity, according to the data.

The Border Patrol had more than 23,000 migrants custody as of Tuesday evening after releasing more than 6,000 more people from custody and into the country.

“The levels of encounters we are currently seeing on the Southwest border present a serious challenge to the men and women of CBP. To meet this challenge, we are using all available resources to ensure the safety of our agents and officers, and migrants who are often deceived and victimized by transnational criminal organizations,” Troy A. Miller, senior acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection (CBP), said in a statement at the DCNF on Wednesday.

“These smugglers are recklessly endangering migrants — in remote locations across the border, on top of trains or in the waters of the Rio Grande,” Miller added. “We continue to pursue smugglers and are implementing new measures to impose consequences on transportation companies, including bus and van lines used by smuggling organizations and nefarious actors to move migrants across northern Mexico and toward our southern border. west. CBP and our federal partners need additional funding from Congress so that we can continue to deliver consequences for those who do not use established pathways.”

CBP closed several ports of entry and railroads in San Ysidro, California, Lukeville, Arizona, and El Paso and Eagle Pass, Texas, allowing 100 employees of the Office of Field Operations, as well as enforcement personnel from law enforcement from other agencies, including the Bureau of Prisons, assists the Border Patrol, an agency spokesman told the DCNF.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest numbers.

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