If you've read or seen reports from the media this week, or heard Biden Administration officials talk about the border, you might think that the border crisis is beginning to wind down.
Yes, the number of illegal border crossings has lessened. But the illegal aliens showing up at ports of entry along the Southwest border in June hit its highest level since Pres. Biden took office in 2021. And we don't know yet how many illegal aliens were paroled into the country by the administration at a port of entry NOT along the Southwest border.
First, let's take a closer look at the newest report from the Department of Homeland Security detailing the number of illegal alien encounters along the Southwest border last month.
Border Patrol agents apprehended 100,617 illegal border crossers in June. You have go all the way back to February of 2021 to find a lower number of border apprehensions.
But to compare, the average number of border apprehensions in the month of June between 2014 and 2018 was 51,167, nearly half the number in June of this year. While total border apprehensions are near their lowest level since Pres. Biden took office, they're still well-above historical levels.
Meanwhile, the number of illegal aliens who presented themselves at a port of entry along the Southwest border continued to rise. In June, CBP Office of Field Operations (OFO) encountered 110,958 illegal aliens at ports of entry. That's the highest level of OFO encounters of illegal aliens at the Southwest border in history. In June of 2021, Pres. Biden's first year in office, OFO encountered just 28,927 illegal aliens at ports of entry.
The bottom line is that roughly the same number of illegal aliens are still trying to enter the country each month. They're just not doing it by crossing the border illegally.
What these numbers don't tell you is how many illegal aliens have attempted to enter the country through ports of entry NOT along the Southwest border. The Biden Administration has established a number of different routes for would-be illegal border crossers that don't involve crossing the border illegally.
For example, illegal aliens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela can grab one of 30,000 parole spots unlawfully created by the Biden Administration each month to enter the U.S. through a port of entry not along the Southwest border. And a newly announced program allows certain family members of U.S. citizens or green card holders from Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
According to a CBS News report from this week, the Biden Administration has granted parole to 168,400 illegal aliens from Central America and the Caribbean since taking office. So it could be years before we get a full understanding of the ongoing illegal immigration surge.
CHRIS CHMIELENSKI is Vice President of Content for NumbersUSA
