U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials declared the borders of the United States “are not open” while releasing a report showing the apprehension of more than 200,000 migrants illegally crossing the border with Mexico.
“The fact is that our borders are not open, and we will continue to remove those who enter our country unlawfully and have no legal basis to stay,” CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said in a written statement on Tuesday releasing the April Southwest Land Border Encounters report. “After many months of planning, we are executing a comprehensive strategy to safely, orderly, and humanely manage our borders.”
In reality, the southwest border with Mexico is anything but safe, orderly, and humane as nearly two dozen migrants drowned in the Del Rio Border Patrol in April. Video reports from Eagle Pass and the Rio Grande Valley continue to show migrants crossing at will. Other reports show the inhumane and life-threatening circumstances that take place in human smuggling operations along the border.
Source: U.S. Customs and Border Protection — April Southwest Land Border Encounters Report
Border Patrol agents set an all-time record for migrant apprehensions during the month of April. Agents along the nine southwest border sectors apprehended more than 201,000 migrants, Breitbart Texas reported on May 2. CBP officials confirmed this report on Tuesday, stating agents apprehended 201,800 migrants last month.
While this is a four percent over the March report, it represents the second month in a row of record-setting apprehension reports where a combined 422,000 migrants were apprehended.
Commissioner Magnus reported that 71 percent of all migrant encounters were single adults (166,814). The report also states:
Unaccompanied Children
- Encounters of unaccompanied children decreased 14 percent, with 12,221 encounters in April compared with 14,143 in March. In April, the average number of unaccompanied children in CBP custody was 478 per day, compared with an average of 582 per day in March.
Family Unit individuals
- Encounters of family unit individuals increased by 45 percent from 37,882 in March to 54,773 in April, which is a 37 percent decrease from the peak of 86,631 in August 2021.
The report from Commissioner Magnus states the Biden administration remains committed to preparing for an increase in border crossings when the Title 42 coronavirus protection protocol put in place by the CDC comes to an end on May 23.
Officials state:
DHS has been executing a comprehensive strategy to secure our borders and rebuild our immigration system. DHS began planning last September, and we are leading the execution of a whole-of-government strategy to prepare for and manage any rise in noncitizen encounters.
That includes: 1) surging resources, including personnel, transportation, medical support, and facilities; 2) increasing processing efficiency, while maintaining the integrity of our screening processes, in order to reduce strain on the border; 3) administering consequences for unlawful entry, including expedited removal and criminal prosecution; 4) bolstering the capacity of NGOs and coordinate with state, local and community partners; 5) targeting and disrupting transnational criminal organizations and human smugglers; and 6) deterring irregular migration south of our border, in partnership with other federal agencies and nations.
The plans appear to focus on increasing the speed at which migrants are processed and released into the U.S.