(The Center Square) – More than 2.75 million foreign nationals have illegally crossed the U.S. border so far this fiscal year.
That total represents nationwide encounters and apprehensions at ports of entry and between ports of entry, including at the northern and southwest borders. Combined, they total 2,756,646 after U.S. Customs and Border Protection released August data. The federal government’s fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.
When including additional data related to illegal border crossers, the total skyrockets.
In August, there were nearly 159,000 illegal border crossers reported nationwide, slightly more than half of those reported in August 2023, according to data cited in a CBP “nationwide encounters” chart.
Troy Miller, a senior official performing the duties of the CBP commissioner, said the total represents a decrease from last month and last year primarily because of a presidential executive order issued in June that decreased encounters between ports of entry by more than 50%.
In the below chart, CBP reports that there were 107,503 illegal border crossers at the southwest border in August, excluding those who evaded capture.
The number is actually higher, according to a statement by Miller: 58,000 were apprehended between ports of entry and 63,000 arrived at ports of entry at the southwest border without having made a CBP One mobile app appointment. This brings the total to 121,000. Another 44,700 arrived having made appointments through the app, he said, bringing the total to 165,700.
This total excludes hundreds of thousands who were flown into airports, released through parole programs and used a phone app, who were all processed near or at ports of entry by the Biden administration. Congressional Republicans and former CBP chiefs say these programs circumvent federal law established by Congress. They were identified as illegal by U.S. House Republicans and used as evidence to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in February.
When including data from one parole program alone (CHNV), another 530,000 illegal border crossers were released into the U.S. through a program Congress and federal judges say is illegal. They include 110,000 Cubans, more than 210,000 Haitians, nearly 93,000 Nicaraguans, and nearly 117,000 Venezuelans.
Their papers state “inadmissible,” the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security notes, which according to federal law means they are unlawfully present in the country and should be processed for removal, not entry into the U.S.
This brings the number of illegal border crossers to 695,700 last month.
Next are the greatest number of illegal border crossers who were apprehended at the northern border last month, reaching nearly 19,000, and another roughly 32,500 apprehended elsewhere nationwide, according to the data.
That brings the total to nearly 750,000 last month.
Notably, according to CBP data, northern border encounters and apprehensions set records in August, bringing this fiscal year’s total to 181,814. Once September data is reported, it likely will surpass last year’s 189,402 to be the highest in U.S. history of illegal crossings through the northern border.
The majority illegally entering or attempting illegal entry nationwide are single adults, according to the data.
These totals also appear to exclude foreign nationals released through roughly a dozen newly created parole programs to “access lawful pathways,” which Republican members of Congress argue are illegal. They include expanding entry to citizens of Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, extending temporary protective status and so-called “family unification” protective status, and expanding entry to minors from Central America and their extended family members, among others, The Center Square reported.
Despite claims by the Biden-Harris administration that everyone being processed into the U.S. is being vetted, multiple DHS inspector general reports and Border Patrol officials have said this is not the case. Despite the claim by the administration that the parole programs are lawful and only noncriminals are being admitted, criminals are being released into the country and vetting isn’t happening, The Center Square reported.
Under the Biden-Harris administration the baseline number of illegal border crossers has surpassed more than 12.5 million since fiscal 2021, first reported by The Center Square. When factoring in the multiple parole programs used to facilitate illegal entry, the number is significantly higher.
