(NewsNation) — Customs and Border Protection on Saturday reported a historic number of people being encountered at the United States-Mexico border over the past fiscal year.
Data released by CBP shows migrants were caught crossing more times in the past year than any other since at least 1960, the New York Times reported.
The number of migrants border officials encountered at the southern border in the month of September was 269,735. Of these, 218,763 were caught trying to get through ports of entry illegally, according to CBP.
That brings the total number of encounters for fiscal year 2023 to 2,475,669 — an all-time high.
In comparison, the number of migrant encounters at the southern border was: 2,378,944 in fiscal year 2022, 1,734,686 in fiscal year 2021 and 458,088 in 2020 — the latter years being ones where COVID-19 was at its peak, and immigration was severely limited.
Rep. Mark Green, a Republican from Tennessee and the chairman of the House’s Homeland Security Committee said the numbers demonstrate the “historic crisis” at the southern border.
“These numbers demonstrate beyond doubt that (Homeland Security) Secretary Mayorkas’ refusal to enforce the law and secure our border is jeopardizing our safety and security,” Green said in a statement. “Additionally, CBP and the Border Patrol continue to be completely overwhelmed by the flood of illegal immigration that has not stopped since he and President Biden took office.”
Biden administration officials, however, say these encounters and crossings are because the number of displaced people around the world hit an all-time high, according to The Times, which quoted Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken as saying that this moment in migration is something “totally aberrational.”
“It used to be that when there was a migration crisis, it tended to be one — maybe one source country at a time,” Blinken said. “Maybe it was Haiti. Maybe it was Cuba. Maybe it was Guatemala, Honduras or El Salvador, the so-called Northern Triangle countries. Now it’s all of the above, plus Venezuela, plus Nicaragua, plus Ecuador.”
Troy A. Miller, acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner, said in his own statement that his agency is taking action by “surging resources and personnel” to the southwest border.
“We are continually engaging with domestic and foreign partners to address historic hemispheric migration, including large migrant groups traveling on freight trains, and to enforce consequences, including by preparing for direct repatriations to Venezuela,” Miller said. “CBP will continue to remain vigilant, making operational adjustments as necessary and enforcing consequences under U.S. immigration law.”
Although southern border woes have made headlines and caught the attention of lawmakers, encounters at what are considered the northern and coastal sectors have gone up as well. The total number of migrants border officials encountered at these sectors amounted to at least 341,000 last month, meaning total nationwide encounters for FY23 were at 3,201,144 compared to 2.7 million the previous fiscal year.
The Biden Administration last Friday asked for more funding they said is required to manage the “unprecedented flow” of migrants.
The White House, in total, is requesting about $14 billion from Congress for border security, which was included as part of a $106 billion spending package for Ukraine and Israel.
These funding asks include: An additional 1,300 border patrol agents; 300 border patrol processing coordinators and support staff; an additional 1,600 asylum officers and support staff; additional detention beds at Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities; 375 new immigration judges and 1,470 more attorneys
Biden administration officials are also asking Congress for another $1.4 billion in grants to local government and non-profit organizations to provide temporary food, shelter and other services to migrants who just arrived in the U.S.
“The supplemental funding request announced yesterday would provide critically needed additional resources including additional CBP agents and officers to support our essential missions: from border and migration management to countering fentanyl and keeping dangerous drugs out of our communities,” the CBP’s Saturday news release said.
Some Republicans slammed the request, with Sen. Bill Hagerty of Tennessee saying that giving the administration “more money to fuel its disastrous open-borders resettlement operation is insanity.”
But Shalanda Young, the White House’s director of the Office of Management and Budget, pushed back, saying the Biden administration “will not be lectured by those who refuse to act.”
“As we’ve said repeatedly, Congress needs to take action to provide sufficient resources for the border,” Young said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.