More than 2 million migrants were stopped while attempting to enter the United States from Mexico illegally in 2021, an astronomical figure resulting from the Biden administration’s easing of border policies and collapsed economies in Latin America due to the pandemic.
A total of 2,033,863 foreigners were detected attempting to cross into the U.S. between ports of entry along the 2,000-mile southern border or were denied admission at the inspection booths, including 178,840 in December, according to data released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Monday.
Illegal immigration at the southern border has soared since shortly after President Joe Biden moved into the White House one year ago this week and is taking place at a faster rate in the first 10 months of Biden’s tenure than during any time in the Border Patrol’s 98-year history. Biden took office and immediately halted deportations for 100 days, suspended border wall construction, and vowed to rescind initiatives that turned away asylum-seekers at the nation’s borders — moves that sent a signal to the world that likely prompted many to travel to the U.S. In addition, the pandemic has had the harshest economic effect on Latin American nations, leading more people to flee to the U.S.
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At the start of his presidency, Biden opted not to return unaccompanied children back across the border under a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation that was imposed at the start of the coronavirus pandemic so as to avoid filling immigration facilities with people. Mexican states also began refusing to accept returns of many families back south of the border, forcing the U.S. to either detain them amid removal proceedings or release them into the country.
Soon after Biden’s decision not to return children, children began arriving at record high rates. Between February and December 2021, more than 100,000 children showed up. All were or will be released to a family friend or adult sponsor in the U.S.
The large majority of the 2 million encountered last year tried to get across the border between the ports of entry. Of the 2 million, more than 1.1 million were immediately expelled back to Mexico or flown to other countries. The remaining more than 800,000 were released into the U.S. under Title 42.
Of the 2 million, 1.25 million were single adults, more than 600,000 arrived with a family member, and 170,000 were children without an adult guardian.
The 178,840 encounters in December were up slightly from 173,620 encounters in November and on par with the 150,000 to 215,000 people intercepted each month since last March. In December 2019, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, just 40,565 noncitizens were stopped at the border — roughly 4.5 times fewer than this past December. Illegal immigration remains at the highest levels in history as the Biden administration struggles to mount an effective response.
Over the past decade, an average of 30,000 to 50,000 people have been encountered illegally crossing the southern border each month. That number dropped to below 20,000 at the start of the pandemic, partly as the result of a Trump administration order that any child, adult, or family who illegally crossed be sent back to their home country rather than taken into custody.
Last spring, Biden initially explained the uptick in illegal migration as “seasonal.” But the numbers continued to spike through the summer months, when fewer migrants have historically been apprehended at the border because the heat acts as a deterrent.
Over the past year, more migrants chose to cross from Mexico into southeastern Texas than any other part of the border. Other areas with high crossings were Del Rio, Texas, and Yuma, Arizona, both remote areas that historically have not seen high illegal immigration until this past year. Arizona has seen more illegal migration, possibly the result of efforts by the state of Texas to secure its border with 7,000 National Guard troops and several thousand state troopers.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas rolled out the Biden administration’s four-pronged plan to stem the flow of migrants illegally entering the country. This included addressing the root causes that lead people to leave their home countries, rebuilding the asylum process, improving border security management, and taking down smugglers. To date, the Biden administration has not made substantive progress in any of the four areas.
The extent of illegal immigration is not fully known because federal data only track those who were intercepted and cannot account for people who were not detected or evaded arrest. Because Border Patrol agents have been pulled from the border to transport and process those arriving, it left areas of the border unmanned.
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As illegal immigration remains at record-high levels, cartels have continued to push high quantities of illegal drugs into the country.
