Migrant Apprehensions So Far This Year Exceed Total Years for Last Decade

The number of migrants apprehended along the southwest border after illegally crossing the border so far this fiscal exceeded the total fiscal year totals for the past decade. Border Patrol officials stated. Officials stated that if the trend continues through the remaining four months of the year, the apprehensions will hit the highest numbers since 2006.

“The numbers for May prove the crisis is only getting worse,” U.S. Border Patrol Chief of Law Enforcement Operations Brian Hastings told reporters in a press call on Wednesday. “As of today, the Border Patrol has apprehended, as of this morning, more than 610,000 subjects on the southwest border alone. That’s exceeding the last decade of fiscal year totals… and there are still four months remaining in this fiscal year.”

“If the current apprehension levels remain the same, we will surpass all physical year totals dating back to 2006,” he explained. “For the month of May, Border Patrol has apprehended over 132,000 subjects on the southwest border alone. That’s an average of 4,285 apprehensions per day.”

“I’ve never seen anything like it in the 24 years that I’ve been doing this job,” Hastings told the reporters. “This is going back a period of 13 years where we haven’t seen apprehensions at this level.”

In 2006, Border Patrol agents apprehended 1,071,972 along the southwest border with Mexico, according to information obtained from Border Patrol officials by Breitbart News. At that point in time, the apprehension numbers consisted mainly of single adult males. In May, officials stated on Wednesday, more than 95,000 of the more than 132,000 migrants apprehended (72 percent) were family units and unaccompanied minors.

“As we’ve discussed in the past, these numbers are so dramatically different from anything we’ve faced in the pasts because of the demographics and composition of the folks being apprehended,” he continued.

The May Southwest Border Migration Report, released on Wednesday afternoon by CBP officials, states that Border Patrol agents apprehended 132,887 total migrants in May. Of those, 84,542 were family unit, 11,507 were unaccompanied minors, and 36,838 were single adults.

Hastings explained the massive increase in migrant family units. “The message continues to be, bring a child and you will be released,” he stated.

The Border Patrol chief of law enforcement operations said that they apprehended more than 55,000 children in May — 11,000 unaccompanied.

Hastings said that up to 60 percent of Border Patrol agents are being pulled from law enforcement duties to provide housing, food, and transportation of these migrants. Without help from Congress, Sanders said CBP would exhaust its budget well before the end of the fiscal year.