Arkansas Online

Border Patrol arrests hit all-time high

1.7 million migrants detained on Mexican boundary in fiscal ’21, U.S. says

NICK MIROFF

U.S. authorities detained more than 1.7 million migrants along the Mexico border during the 2021 fiscal year that ended in September, and arrests by the Border Patrol soared to the highest levels ever recorded, according to unpublished U.S. Customs and Border Protection data obtained by The Washington Post.

Illegal crossings began rising last year but skyrocketed in the months after President Joe Biden took office. As Customs and Border Protection arrests increased this past spring, Biden described the rise as consistent with historic seasonal norms. But the busiest months came during the heat of July and August, when more than 200,000 migrants were taken into custody.

During a confirmation hearing Tuesday for Chris Magnus, the Tucson police chief Biden has nominated to lead Customs and Border Protection, Republican senators pressed him to characterize the surge as a “crisis.”

Magnus called it a “significant challenge,” adding that “the numbers are very high.” Customs and Border Protection is expected to release the 2021 fiscal year data later this week.

Biden promised on the campaign trail to make the United States more welcoming to migrants, in contrast to former President Donald Trump, whose zero-tolerance family separations generated widespread anger in 2018.

During the transition, Biden said he wanted to move cautiously on immigration policy and avoid ending up “with 2 million people on our border.”

Once in office, Biden quickly halted construction on the border wall, ended the “Remain in Mexico” policy, reversed key asylum restrictions and announced a 100 day pause on most deportations and enforcement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Biden officials initially blamed the previous administration’s policies for the increase in border crossings and said migration pressures intensified as a result of the pandemic’s economic fallout. Many migrants have told reporters they opted to make the risky journey north, at great cost and considerable danger, with the belief that Biden would allow them to stay. A tight U.S. labor market became another pull.

Earlier this year, Biden directed Vice President Harris to address the “root causes” of migration from Central America’s Northern Triangle nations — Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. But the strategy has had little to no measurable effect, and Harris has distanced herself from the border and immigration issues generally.

The latest Customs and Border Protection data indicates that the administration’s challenges extend far beyond Central America. Mexico was the single largest source of illegal migration during the 2021 fiscal year, as the Border Patrol arrested more than 608,000 Mexican nationals. The Biden administration has increasingly relied on Mexico to tighten enforcement and block caravan groups heading north.

Biden officials are in negotiations with Mexico to comply with federal court orders to restart the “Remain in Mexico” policy requiring asylum seekers to wait outside U.S. territory while their cases are processed.

The second-largest grouping was composed of migrants from outside Mexico and Central America whom Customs and Border Protection categorized as “other,” including Haitians, Venezuelans, Ecuadorans, Cubans, Brazilians and migrants from dozens of other nations. They accounted for 367,000 arrests.

They were followed by migrants from Honduras (309,000), Guatemala (279,000) and El Salvador (96,000).

More than 1.3 million migrants have been taken into custody along the southern border in the nine months since Biden took office, including 192,000 last month, the latest figures show.

In the fiscal years between 2012 and 2020, border arrests averaged about 540,000. The 2021 figure was more than three times that amount and the second-highest annual total ever recorded.

The influx has produced a series of crises for the administration, starting this spring with record numbers of unaccompanied minors crossing without parents who were crowded into Border Patrol tents.

Crossings by Central American family groups overwhelmed U.S. agents this summer, and in September, the arrival of 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants to a crude camp in Del Rio, Texas, produced scenes of chaos and harsh enforcement tactics by Border Patrol agents on horseback.

The Biden administration has responded to criticism of the arrest numbers by noting that it continues to use the Title 42 public health policy to rapidly “expel” most adult border crossers to Mexico or their home countries.

Of the 1.7 million detained during the 2021 fiscal year, 61% were expelled under Title 42, the Customs and Border Protection data shows.

The expulsions have led to a significant increase in repeat crossing attempts by migrants who are turned back, so the number of distinct individuals taken into custody is lower than the number of arrests recorded. Recidivism rates have exceeded 25% in recent months, twice as high as in previous years, according to Customs and Border Protection figures.

The influx has produced a series of crises for the administration, starting this spring with record numbers of unaccompanied minors crossing without parents who were crowded into Border Patrol tents.

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2021-10-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-10-21T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://edition.arkansasonline.com/article/281595243731352

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