Mere days after President Joe Biden declared the border crisis “under control,” new numbers show the flood of illegal immigrants across the southern border has not abated.
On Monday, Chief Patrol Agent Chris Clem tweeted that the Yuma Sector, which stretches across Arizona’s border with Mexico, was swamped.
In his tweet, he noted the difference between areas where barriers (such as former President Donald Trump’s border wall) exist, and where there is nothing to block illegal immigrants from crossing into America.
“#YumaSector apprehended more than 1,600 migrants over the weekend. Agents encountered 13 groups of 30+ that illegally crossed into the US from Mexico. The migrants crossed in areas where there is no infrastructure to deter people from illegally crossing the border on foot,” he tweeted.
#YumaSector apprehended more than 1,600 migrants over the weekend. Agents encountered 13 groups of 30+ that illegally crossed into the US from Mexico. The migrants crossed in areas where there is no infrastructure to deter people from illegally crossing the border on foot. pic.twitter.com/QvxDDmBnHc
— Chief Patrol Agent Chris T. Clem (@USBPChiefYUM) May 3, 2021
Last week, in an interview with NBC News, Biden claimed that the whole problem at the border was caused by the Trump administration, citing “the failure to have a real transition.”
“The two departments that didn’t give us access to virtually anything were the immigration and the Defense Department,” the president told NBC.
The Biden Administration’s recent statements that the surge in illegal immigration is not due to their policies is insane, offensive, and just plain wrong.
https://t.co/KBUvSHJp11— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) May 3, 2021
Biden, when asked about the number of unaccompanied minors still in CBP custody, said, “Well, look. It’s way down now. We’ve now gotten control.”
The president also sought to claim the spike in illegal immigration was routine, which went against a planning document from Immigration and Customs Enforcement cited by the Washington Examiner.
“DHS is seeing an increase in irregular migrant flows to the southwest border of the United States, including greater numbers of family units and unaccompanied children,” the ICE document stated. “The projected encounters for fiscal year (FY) 2021 are expected to be the highest number observed in over 20 years.”
April numbers show that for the month, the flow of migrants has fluctuated slightly.
Customs and Border Protection data shows that in April, there were 162,000 encounters with migrants. That is down slightly from the 172,000 recorded in March, according to Fox News.
However, CNN reported that in April, CBP encountered about 6,000 illegal immigrants per day, according to a Department of Homeland Security official who spoke with the outlet. March’s average was 5,560 people per day.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted that crossings “remain high.”
In addition to those who are detained, authorities are aware of an additional average of 1,500 people a day who slip away into the U.S.
Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot told NewsNationNow that the crisis is growing.
“Well, currently right now Border Patrol where they were handling roughly 200 plus a day, just along the river corridors, now up to four [hundred] almost 500 a day in apprehensions just along the River Corridor and Yuma County, we’ve got roughly 115 miles of international boundary here,” he said.
“Our concern for us is not the immigration side of it. It’s the fact that our border security folks are being hamstrung by the cartels coordinating all of this tactically because now we’re seeing an increase in the illegal human and narcotics smuggling towards the eastern remote areas of Yuma County.”
The sheriff said Americans need to get their elected officials in gear to address the problem.
“And our thing is, is that we need the citizens to contact their reps and their senators, no matter where you live in the country, and tell them that Homeland Security, border security, public safety and public health has got to be their priority,” Wilmot said.
“Not anything else, because we’re still seeing states where the COVID is going up. And for them to allow this to continue when you have countries of origin that have significant COVID exposures coming into the country illegally and that not being addressed, is not putting Americans in their health as a priority.”
