An additional 9,000 encounters occurred at the Laredo and El Paso offices of field operations.
The agency said that it encountered about 223,000 illegal aliens along the southwest U.S. land border, a quarter of whom had already been encountered at least once before. Another 17,000 enforcement actions occurred at offices of field operations. More than two-thirds of the encounters were with single adults.
Once again, it is reported to be the highest number of encounters in a single month recorded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
In a news release, CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus offered insight into the reason for increased illegal crossings.
He partially attributed it to human smugglers taking advantage of the summertime temperatures and victimizing “vulnerable populations.”
“Current restrictions at the U.S. border have not changed: single adults and families encountered at the Southwest Border will continue to be expelled, where appropriate, under Title 42,” Magnus said, urging foreign individuals to avoid “the dangerous journey only to be sent back.”
The Biden administration has sought to end the application of Title 42, but its efforts were stymied by a federal judge. The public health measure instituted at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic has been used to expel hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens.
Border agents expelled 55 percent of the single adults encountered last month under Title 42. 42 percent of the total encounters last month resulted in an expulsion under the public health order.
Critics of the president’s immigration strategy have ascribed much of the increase in illegal immigration to his more lenient policies, many of which have been stricken down by federal judges appointed by former President Trump.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has enacted measures he contends are better suited to balance border security and humanitarian concerns. He and other Biden officials have characterized the Trump administration’s policies as “inhumane.”
CBP also noted that there has been an “increase in migration being experienced by nations across the Hemisphere” and that the U.S. government is “executing a comprehensive, whole-of-government plan to manage increases in the number of migrants encountered at our border…”
Mayorkas detailed his plan in a document to Homeland Security officials in April.
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Hayden Sparks
Hayden Sparks is a senior reporter for The Texan and a lifelong resident of the Lone Star State. He has coached competitive speech and debate and has been involved in politics since a young age. One of Hayden's favorite quotes is by Sam Houston: "Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may."
