Southern Border Encountered Historic High of Illegal Aliens in April

Since President Joe Biden took office last January, his administration has dismantled nearly every facet of border security that helped U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) maintain reasonable control over the southern border. Last month’s encounters only affirm President Biden’s dereliction in securing our border.

On May 17, CBP announced that its agents encountered 234,088 illegal aliens along the southern border in April – the highest number of illegal alien encounters ever recorded in a single month. Moreover, April’s encounters mark the fourth time that monthly encounters were more than 200,000 since President Biden took office. The data also show that of the unlawful migrants encountered last month, 96,908 were removed due to the application of Title 42.

These alarming figures should be concerning to every American across the country. April’s border encounters have already surpassed the monthly summer totals of FY 2021, when encounters tend to be higher during the warmer months. In addition, the CBP data does not include the number of “got-aways,” which are illegal aliens who successfully evaded capture or detection from border authorities. 

For every illegal entrant detained by Border Patrol agents, how many eluded detention? And how many of those sneaking into the U.S. were bad actors?

A recent court filing revealed that of the encountered aliens last month, 117,989 were released into the U.S. by immigration officials, adding to the 836,225 illegal aliens already released into the interior since the Biden administration began office. Moreover, according to the Department of Justice, 42 percent of illegal aliens were assigned an immigration court date and released into the U.S. fail to appear for their hearings.

Does the Biden administration honestly expect every alien to honor their agreements to appear in immigration court?

Despite bipartisan calls for President Biden to reverse course on his destructive border mandates, such as scrapping Title 42 on May 23, he has stood by these misguided policy decisions. For months, FAIR has warned that repealing the public health order would remove our nation’s last border protection measure. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence has signaled as many as one million migrants could cross the Southwest border within the first six weeks if Title 42 is lifted.

Throwing open the gate for a never-ending flood of unchecked migration will only bring more trouble for the American people. Thanks to the administration’s misplaced priorities, the nation is currently paying for the consequences of having an open border. The president must take a different approach to border security if he’s serious about his oath to protect the American people.