Expert Insight: Biden Administration Setting All the Wrong Border Records

In mid-July, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) apprehended 207,416 illegal aliens in the month of June. According to CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus, this was proof that the Biden Administration’s border strategy was starting to work because June’s level was lower than each of the previous 3 months. Perhaps to the administration’s surprise, their allies in the mainstream media did not churn out fawning stories touting the June numbers as a success. When DHS released July’s numbers showing 199,976 apprehensions, the lowest level since February 2022, Commissioner Magnus’s description was more muted. “This marks the second month in a row of decreased [apprehensions] along the Southwest border. While the [apprehension] numbers remain high, this is a positive trend and the first two-month drop since October 2021,” said Magnus.

Starting with June, here’s what the numbers really show. The 207,416 illegal aliens apprehended this June are the highest total ever recorded for the month of June in any prior year. While that total is lower than the records set in the preceding three months, June’s dramatic level is a far cry from “Mission Accomplished.” This also marked the sixth instance during the Biden Administration that monthly border apprehensions exceeded 200,000. Before this administration, it only happened once, way back in March 2000, before DHS was even created. Simply put, the Biden Administration has “normalized” levels of illegal immigration we once thought impossible to reach.

With the addition of the June numbers, Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 became the highest fiscal year total ever recorded, and the fiscal year doesn’t end until September 30. In just 9 months, 1.74 million illegal aliens were apprehended at the southern border, exceeding the previous high of 1.73 million apprehensions over the course of an entire fiscal year.

July’s slight decline from previous record highs is a long way from success. This July’s apprehension numbers are the second highest July ever recorded, only behind July 2021’s total of 213,593. The Biden Administration’s average for July apprehensions is 206,785, which is a 340% increase over the July 5-year average from FY 2016-2020. July’s numbers also pushed the total up to 1.94 million apprehensions, guaranteeing that FY 2022 will be the first fiscal year ever to top the 2 million apprehensions threshold.

Any guess who previously held the record? Naturally, the Biden Administration from last fiscal year. To recap, the Biden Administration is responsible for the two highest fiscal year border apprehension totals, as well as the three highest individual months ever recorded and six of the top seven. And yet, DHS Secretary Mayorkas falsely claims that “the border is secure” and the situation is not a “crisis.”

But the record-setting doesn’t end there. Economic migrants being smuggled or trafficked to the border are dying at record levels during the dangerous journey north or while in CBP custody. According to leaked CBP data, at least 670 illegal aliens have been found dead attempting to cross our southern border. This includes the 53 illegal aliens found dead in an abandoned tractor-trailer in the Texas summer heat, the single largest casualty event involving traffickers and smugglers in U.S. history. Border Patrol agents are being assaulted at record levels as a proportion of those agents who are actually patrolling the border. The raw number would likely be higher, except that DHS has taken most Border Patrol agents off the front lines and converted them into processors of apprehended aliens instead of conducting law enforcement duties.

The Biden Administration’s failed border policies are also responsible for the record-setting drug crisis plaguing communities nationwide. Of particular concern is the Chinese-manufactured fentanyl that the Mexican cartels pour into our country while Border Patrol agents are overwhelmed dealing with the economic migrants who lack valid asylum claims. Fentanyl is now the leading cause of death in young Americans, and annual drug overdoses topped 100,000 for the first time in 2021.

It is not a coincidence that all the wrong border records are being set by the current administration. They threw away the playbook they inherited that actually succeeded in addressing these complicated issues and have doubled down on a strategy that doesn’t work. Record-setting mass illegal immigration, violence, death, and drugs are neither “humane” nor “orderly.” We need to secure the border, end human trafficking, and defeat the drug cartels to help provide safe and secure communities so that all Americans can live their lives in peace.