The number of migrant encounters at the southern border hit a record monthly high in December, according to data updated Friday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
CBP recorded 302,034 encounters at and between ports of entry on both the U.S.-Mexico border in December, bringing the total number of crossings in fiscal year 2024 to more than 785,000. according to to the data. Out of more than 302,000 encounters, Border Patrol recorded a total of 249,785 illegal encounters, according to the data. (Related article: 'It's dynamic': ICE director asks Congress to come up with more cash for detention beds that will leave thousands vacant)
EAGLE PASS, Texas – SEPTEMBER 30: Asylum seekers who crossed the Rio Grande River from Mexico into the United States wait to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol on September 30, 2023 in Eagle Pass, Texas. . (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
In fiscal year 2022, Border Patrol recorded more than 2.2 million encounters with immigrants illegally crossing the southern border. according to Go to CBP data. The following fiscal year saw more than 2 million more encounters in the region.
During December, the border areas of Eagle Pass, Texas, and Tucson, Arizona, were the scene of a massive wave of illegal immigration that overwhelmed federal resources in the region.
In response to Texas' booming population, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott seized city-owned land in Eagle Pass known as Shelby Park, and authorities installed bellows wire to prevent crossings. The Supreme Court recently ruled that federal authorities can shut down communications.
The state has refused to allow federal authorities to dismount from their border posts to allow them into the park, where razor wire continues to be installed.
The House Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to add articles of impeachment next week against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over his handling of a record surge in illegal immigration.
“Secretary Mayorkas has outdone himself once again. Even with historically high encounter numbers on his watch, we have never seen numbers as devastating as this. , is undeniable evidence that Secretary Mayorkas must be impeached,” Committee Chairman Mark Green said in a statement shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation on Friday.
This is breaking news and will be updated.
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