By Andrew R. Arthur on July 16, 2021
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 16, 2021) -- On July 14, I complained that CBP had failed to release its “encounter” numbers for June yet. Those statistics were finally released on Friday afternoon, but I would not have published them more quickly either — they are dismally high for a month when illegal migration usually goes down. Regrettably, there are worse signs on the horizon.
In June, CBP encountered almost 189,000 aliens at the Southwest border, the lion’s share (178,416) of which were Border Patrol apprehensions. That is an increase of almost 6,000 Border Patrol apprehensions in one month.
As I explained on June 10, monthly apprehensions at the Southwest border in April and May were at their highest levels in 21 years. June continues that grim trend.
The number of single adults who were apprehended in June actually declined, but only slightly, meaning that the increase in apprehensions last month was driven by families and children.
This is not the time of year that we usually see increases in illegal migration, as the brutal heat the southern border typically deters migrants.
The Biden administration needs to change its policies — and rhetoric — quickly to avoid reaching a new monthly record. The president’s representatives can say “the border is not open,” but migrants and smugglers know that it’s not true.
As long as “catch, release, and disperse” migrants into the interior of the United States is the directive to CBP at the Southwest border, and as long as ICE agents in the interior are on “probation” as the Washington Post puts it, the aliens will keep coming.
Anything that the U.S. government does that shows that it is not serious about enforcing the immigration laws sends a signal to foreign nationals who are considering illegal entry to start their journeys. “Amnesty” is, by definition, the truest form of non-enforcement.
After her June 25 trip to El Paso, Harris stated that the administration has seen “extreme progress” at the border. The only ones who are really making “progress” there are the smugglers who are moving even more migrants illegally to the United States and the drug cartels who are ramping up their shipments of death. Each is likely preparing for more such perverse “progress” in the coming months.
