According to preliminary government data obtained by CBS News, U.S. immigration agents processed more than 200,000 illegal border crossers in September, the highest level recorded since 2023, as the Biden administration struggles to contain the mass migration gripping the region.
Border Patrol agents apprehended approximately 210,000 migrants who illegally entered the United States between official ports of entry along the Mexican border in September, up from 181,000 in August, according to internal statistics from the Department of Homeland Security.
Unlawful Migrant Crossing Hit Highest Ever Recorded
The number of migrants apprehended in September is the greatest since December 2022, when the Border Patrol apprehended 222,000, the second-highest monthly total on record. In May 2022, Border Patrol agents apprehended a record-breaking 224,000 migrants.
According to unpublished DHS data, migrant apprehensions along the U.S. southern frontier surpassed 2 million for only the second time in US history. The information pertained to the fiscal year 2023, which concluded this past weekend. The 2,2 million migrants apprehended in fiscal year 2022 represents the highest annual total ever.
In addition to those apprehended after illegally entering the United States, tens of thousands of additional migrants were assessed at ports of entry by border officials last month. The Biden administration has permitted approximately 1,500 asylum-seekers to enter the country daily at these official border crossings if they obtain an appointment through a smartphone app.
Not all those apprehended are permitted to remain in the United States. Some adult migrants are given the option to return to Mexico voluntarily or are placed in an expedited deportation process if they do not claim asylum or fail initial humanitarian evaluations.
The majority of migrants, however, have been released from US border detention in recent months and ordered to appear in immigration court. While those migrants face deportation if they lose their asylum cases, the process can take years to complete due to a 2 million (and increasing) backlog of unresolved cases.
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said it anticipates "fluctuations" in migration patterns, citing "misinformation used by smugglers to exploit vulnerable individuals."
DHS added that the administration is working to "strengthen consequences" for those who enter the country illegally, noting that the US has returned or deported over 250,000 migrants since early May.
The significant increase in illegal border crossings over the past few weeks exemplifies the Biden administration's ongoing struggle to reduce the unprecedented levels of illegal immigration to the United States in recent years. It has also compromised President Biden's border strategy, which was lauded by administration officials when illicit border crossings reached a two-year low in June.
Some migrant groups, such as Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans, have drastically reduced their illegal border crossings as a result of this strategy, which consists of expanding legal migration opportunities while implementing stricter asylum rules for some illegal border crossers. Other Central Americans, Venezuelans, and migrants from other continents, such as Africa and Asia, have not, however, experienced a similar, lasting effect.
In fact, the increase in illegal border crossings last month was fueled in part by the arrival of Venezuelan migrants, who are traveling to the US in record numbers to escape the economic and political crisis in Venezuela or to leave other South American nations still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Midway through September, more than a quarter, or 2,000, of all daily Border Patrol apprehensions were Venezuelan migrants, according to agency statistics reviewed by CBS News. In August, the Border Patrol processed 713 Venezuelans per day on average.
Seven million Venezuelans have escaped their homeland in recent years, as part of what is now the largest displacement crisis in the world, according to the United Nations.
While the majority initially settled in Colombia and other South American countries, an increasing number of Venezuelans are heading north, risking a week-long journey across multiple countries and Panama's roadless Darién Gap in order to reach the United States.
According to the Panamanian government, more than 400,000 migrants, primarily from Venezuela, have traversed the Darién jungle this year, an unprecedented number that has nearly doubled the previous record set in 2022.
US Migrant Crisis
Recent influxes of illegal border crossers have highlighted the Biden administration's struggle to rein in the unprecedented unauthorized migration of the past few years. It also undermined Biden's border strategy, which was lauded by officials when the number of illegal border crossings reached a two-year low in June.
The strategy, which consists of extending legal migration opportunities while imposing stricter asylum rules for some entering illegally has seen a sharp decline of unauthorized entries among some groups such as Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans.According to the government of Panama, more than 400,000 people have traversed the treacherous Darién jungle, double the previous record set in 2022.
Images from the porous frontier depict hordes of migrants traversing treacherous terrain and wading through the Rio Grande. Families can be seen clinging to one another, with some struggling to transport drenched luggage across the water.
Eagle Pass and Brownsville and other border communities have felt the full weight of the situation. Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez of the US Border Patrol's Rio Grande Valley Sector, which encompasses 277 miles of border along the Rio Grande and 316 miles along the Gulf of Mexico, published images depicting the crisis on Friday.
Not so for other Central Americans fleeing economic and political turmoil, such as Venezuelans and migrants from other continents, including Africa and Asia. According to the United Nations, seven million people have fled the country in what is being called the "largest displacement crisis in the world."
In the hopes of reaching the United States, many migrants are enduring a multi-week journey across multiple countries and Panama's unpaved Darién Gap.It follows the release of disturbing video footage showing migrants sneaking through unguarded barbed wire at Eagle Pass.
The border city has been the epicenter of the crisis, with the mayor declaring a state of emergency on September 20. In the most recent video, migrants could be seen sneaking through the border town's brambles one by one in an attempt to cross the boundary without being processed.
Dozens, including at least three children, appeared to sneak through barbed wire at a time when neither border patrol nor officers were present. According to the Washington Office of Latin America, border crossings increased to approximately 8,000 per day during the week ending September 22, in a town of only 28,000 people in Texas.
