Washington, D.C. (September 29, 2023) – The Center for Immigration Studies’ analysis of CBP’s August border statistics reveals a border in freefall, with all historical records for monthly encounters nationwide being surpassed. The article, authored by Andrew Arthur, the Center’s fellow in law and policy, analyzes the Biden administration policies that have created the crisis.

CBP’s “encounters” metric, which includes both apprehensions and inadmissible applicants, reached unprecedented levels in August, totaling 304,162. This surge includes a massive influx of adults entering illegally with children and unaccompanied alien children, presenting significant challenges for Border Patrol agents.

Of particular concern is the sharp rise in encounters at Southwest border ports, with nearly 52,000 inadmissible applicants encountered in August. This is a 132-percent increase over CBP encounters at the Southwest ports in August 2022 (itself a 67-percent increase over August 2021). The surge can be attributed to the Biden administration’s controversial “CBP One app interview scheme,” which allows migrants to preschedule their illegal entries, contributing to the chaos at the ports of entry.

Moreover, the administration’s illegal and flawed use of parole, such as the CHNV Parole Processes the White House announced in January, have allowed thousands of inadmissible aliens, mostly from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, to enter the United States. Thanks to disclosures the Center received under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) we now know that about 99.7 percent of the aliens paroled into the country under the CHNV Parole Processes have been allowed to enter, which calls into question how vigorous DHS’s vetting has been.

Arthur points out that “not only is CHNV parole facially illegal (20 states are suing the Biden administration in federal court in Texas to shut it down), but it is also ‘Ripe for Human Exploitation’ by human traffickers and unscrupulous employers.”

The border crisis has devolved into a nightmare for law enforcement, with an overwhelming number of family units and unaccompanied children requiring specialized care and extensive processing time. On average, agents require 78.5 hours to simply do the paperwork on those migrants. Consequently, few Border Patrol agents are actually patrolling the border, creating opportunities for smugglers and criminal cartels.

This escalation is due to a loophole the Biden administration created for family units when it (mildly) beefed up the asylum rules to slow the border flow. Those rules also included a carve-out for unaccompanied alien kids, which explains why Border Patrol’s Southwest border UAC apprehension numbers soared in August, as well. Last month, agents encountered more than 13,500 alien minors travelling alone.

Arthur concludes, “CBP’s nationwide August alien encounter numbers are the worst in history in every possible way — total encounters, Southwest port encounters, Border Patrol family apprehensions — with increasing numbers of kids showing up alone, widening gaps for cartel exploitation, and the White House’s responses all failing. All thanks to President Joe Biden.”