Biden’s Border Crisis Literally Heading Off-the-Charts After Another Disastrous Month

Customs and Border Protection’s November 2022 border encounter numbers were released just before Christmas and are turning out to be quite an unwelcome gift. The official statistics show 233,740 encounters on the southwest border alone that month. This is a record number of illegal crossings in what is normally the “low season” for illegal immigration, comparable to the worst summer highs of 2021. Since President Biden took office, every single month except July and August 2022 has recorded an all-time high in illegal immigration, and that woeful trend seems set to continue for the foreseeable future.

These monthly numbers don’t even tell the full story. Official totals have never reflected the number of “gotaways”, individuals who illegally enter the U.S. but never encounter law enforcement. In November 2022 alone, 73,000 gotaways crossed the border, another shameful all-time high that brings the true total of illegal crossings to well over 300,000. This also means roughly 2,400 individuals a day enter without even the opportunity for law enforcement to screen for criminal or terrorism risks. For comparison, encounters never went higher than 140,000 per month at any point during the previous administration.

Because of this consistent increase, the government seems set to incur another migration-related expense: web development. The increase in illegal immigration since the Biden administration began its open-borders policies has pushed the chart that tracks encounters precariously close to its 250,000 upper limit. November is historically a month with low illegal immigration relative to summer, so it seems likely that CBP will need to adjust its graph to allow for even higher numbers quite soon.

The need to adjust charts just to show the scale of illegal crossings stands as a graphic testament to the Biden administration’s sabotage of border and immigration enforcement. The U.S.’s ability to handle this level of illegal migration, just like CBP’s charts, has been stretched to its limit. America needs immediate action on border enforcement, including a barrier that can’t be broken as easily as the records the Biden administration has shattered month after month with its failed policies.