Since Joe Biden began his term, there have been almost 9 million encounters with illegal immigrants. This means that during his administration, more people have crossed the border irregularly than during the the previous 14 years combined. The figure is even higher considering the officially estimated 1.7 million undocumented immigrants who have managed to cross the border since 2021 without being detained by law enforcement.
How bad has the #BidenBorderCrisis gotten?
Since August 2021 the CBP has been forced to double the size of its chart showing the number of illegal immigrant encounters from 150K to 300K. pic.twitter.com/TTBiEeBhLR
— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) January 26, 2024
The most migrant arrests in a single term in history
More than 10.5 million immigrants have entered illegally since Biden began his term, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security. This problem is spiraling out of control, as demonstrated by the fact that in the first three months of fiscal year 2024, there have been close to 1 million encounters, according to official data. Through December 2023, apprehensions totaled 8,913,064 since January 2021, according to information provided by Customs and Border Protection.
These figures have resulted in Joe Biden's seeing the most migrant arrests in U.S. history, not counting the undocumented immigrants who managed to enter the country without being detained by law enforcement. In fact, since he arrived at the White House, more illegal immigrants have crossed the border than during the last two years of George W. Bush, eight of Barack Obama, and four of Donald Trump combined (2006-2020). During these 14 years, 8,053,647 migrant encounters were officially recorded, almost 1 million less than during the three years that Biden has been in office. In fact, adding the 1,189,075 official arrests in 2005, there are barely 330,000 more in 15 years (9,242,722) than during Biden's three-year period at the head of the country.
Tensions between administrations
This unsustainable situation is causing serious tensions between the federal administration and border states. Republican-led Texas is the clearest example of the existing fracture, although it is increasingly evident in Democratic states, such as Arizona, which is demanding the president for more resources, and California, where even Democratic, black and Hispanic voters overwhelmingly disagree with progressive immigration policies. In addition to the states bordering Mexico, sanctuary cities far from the border such as New York and Chicago are also demanding radical change, in addition to money, as they receive buses full of immigrants from Greg Abbott.
But the crisis is not limited to clashes between the different levels of government. Congress is unable to release aid to Ukraine after Republican lawmakers demanded they first reach an agreement on the border. At the moment, the two sides in the Senate are very far apart, and even a timid attempt at an agreement between some conservative senators with their Democratic counterparts was quickly stifled by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, ensuring that it would never pass the House and make it to the Oval Office.
988,819 migrant encounters in the first three months of the fiscal year
The last three months of 2023 were especially intense in terms of illegal immigration, reaching 988,819 in this period alone. The situation prevented sectors like Tucson, Ariz., from taking any action beside registering these illegal immigrants in the face of the influx (a record 19,000+ encounters in one week). Authorities also had to shut down rail traffic between El Paso and Eagle Pass, Texas, which connects the U.S. to Mexico, in December. Even Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a progressive Democrat, was forced to deploy the National Guard to the southern border due to the increase in migration.
