In August, U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended 203,598 immigrants crossing through Mexico, according to the latest data, bringing authorities to more than 2.3 million apprehensions during the administration’s 2022 fiscal year, which expires September 30. The total, which includes some people arrested more than once, far exceeds last year’s record of 1.7 million arrests. This year’s historic immigration surge is driven by increasing numbers of border crossers from outside Mexico and Central America, the two largest traditional sources of illegal entry. Immigrants from Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba accounted for more than a third of those detained along the southern border last month, according to Customs and Border Protection, a 175 percent increase from August 2021. Officials in the Biden administration blamed the governments of those countries, whose strained relations with Washington severely limit authorities’ ability to deport them. Many of the migrants apply for humanitarian protection in the United States and tend to have strong asylum claims. “The failed communist regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba are driving a new wave of immigration across the Western Hemisphere, including a recent increase in encounters at the US Southwest border,” said Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Chris Magnus. “Those fleeing repressive regimes pose significant challenges to processing and removal,” he said, using the official term for deportations. Biden administration officials continue to insist they are building a “safe, orderly and humane” immigration system while accusing the Trump administration of “dismantling” channels for legal immigration. Critics say Biden administration officials have fallen far short of meeting refugee admissions goals, and the number of immigrants who have died this year trying to cross into the United States is at an all-time high. Dozens have drowned in the Rio Grande in recent months, and 53 were killed in June when smugglers in Texas put migrants in a stormy tractor with a faulty cooling system. Martha’s Vineyard flights leave immigrant advocates scrambling Republican lawmakers blame the record number of crossings on President Biden’s reversal of the Trump administration’s border policies. In recent months, the Republican governors of Texas and Arizona have bussed more than 10,000 migrants to Washington, New York and other northern destinations to pressure Democrats, straining aid agencies in their jurisdictions. Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSandis (R) sent a planeload of Venezuelans to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts, taking them to a wealthy island enclave with limited services for immigrants. Biden administration officials also say the high numbers at the border are skewed by repeated attempts to cross by immigrants who have been apprehended in the past. Last month, 22 per cent of those taken into custody had a previous arrest in the previous 12 months, the latest figures show. One factor that Biden administration officials blame for the repeated crossings is the Title 42 public health emergency policy, implemented at the start of the pandemic, which allows US agents to quickly “deport” some migrants back to Mexico. The Biden administration’s effort to phase out Title 42 was blocked in federal court last spring. The latest figures show that the percentage of border crossers deported under Title 42 is declining and remains much lower under Biden than under President Donald Trump. About 36 percent of 203,598 immigrant “encounters” resulted in deportation last month, up from 83 percent when Biden took office. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) said Monday that pressure on Democratic-run cities will force the administration to view the border surge as a crisis. “Maybe, just maybe, they will see that what happens along our border every day is dangerous, unsustainable and a problem we must work together to address,” he said. Biden officials who defend the administration’s record on the border have pointed to a drop in the number of Mexican and Central American migrants apprehended over the past three months as a sign that their enforcement policies are having some success, including efforts to target smuggling organizations in Latin America. Maria Sacchetti contributed to this report.
