Border Patrol Apprehends 1 Million Migrants in 2021

Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 178,000 migrants in June along the U.S. border with Mexico, marking the largest single-month increase since March. The increasing number of apprehensions led to a total of 1,076,242 migrants apprehended so far this fiscal year.

During the month of June, when migrant apprehensions generally decrease, Border Patrol agents apprehended 178, 416 migrants — an increase of 5,789, according to the June Southwest Land Border Encounters report released by CBP officials on Friday. The increased apprehensions came in the categories of Family Units and Unaccompanied Minors which rose by 25 and eight percent respectively. Single Adult apprehensions fell by 4,537.

Because of the extreme heat and other dangerous smuggling conditions, migrant rescues this year rose dramatically, CBP reports. During the first nine months of this fiscal year (October through June), migrant rescues hit 9,500. This represents an 81 percent increase over the entire Fiscal Year 2020, officials stated.

“We are in the hottest part of the summer, and we are seeing a high number of distress calls to CBP from migrants abandoned in treacherous terrain by smugglers with no regard for human life,” CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller said in a written statement. “Although CBP does everything it can to locate and rescue individuals who are lost or distressed, the bottom line is this: the terrain along the border is extreme, the summer heat is severe, and the miles of desert migrants must hike after crossing the border in many areas are unforgiving.”

During the month of June, CBP officials expelled nearly 105,000 migrants to Mexico under Title 42 coronavirus protection protocols put in place during the Trump administration by the Centers for Disease Control and prevention. “The majority of all June encounters resulted in a Title 42 expulsion,” CBP officials stated.

However, the Biden administration may cancel this program in July Breitbart News’ Edwin Mora reported. ““President Biden has been briefed on a plan for stopping family expulsions by the end of July, as well as the option of letting a court end it,” according to a report by Axios.

In June, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayoras formally ended the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocol that virtually ended “Catch and Release” programs of past administration. During the month of June, DHS officials processed more than 12,000 people into the United States who had been returned to Mexico under MPP, the report states.

FY2021 Border Patrol Apprehensions

October — 69,049

November — 69,166

December — 71,143

January — 75,313

February — 97,639

March — 169,204

April — 173,685

May — 172,627

June — 178,416