- 2021 could be the biggest year for illegal border crossings in modern U.S. history.
- It’s already in the top six, with two months left in the fiscal year.
- Fewer than half of illegal aliens who are apprehended are sent back; most are released in the U.S.
- Over the past 60 years, border agents have recorded nearly 45 million encounters with illegal border crossers.
- That doesn’t count millions of “got aways” and those who escape detection entirely.
- Politicians and citizens among both political parties routinely list illegal immigration as a top concern and priority. However, there has been no agreement through several decades of attempts as to how to address it.
With this week’s announcement by Homeland Security Chief Alejandro Mayorkas that there were 212,672 apprehensions of illegal crossers at the U.S. Southern Border in July, many in the media reported it’s the worst year in 20 or 21 years.
It’s likely far bleaker than that.
The new number of 212,672 apprehensions is higher than any July beyond well the last 21 years:
July 2000: 116,624
July 1999: approx. 118,000
July 1998: approx. 121,000
Mayorkas himself called July’s numbers “unprecedented” during a Thursday press conference in southern Texas.
All time record?
By all accounts, this month’s numbers (August) appear to be as high if not higher than July’s.
If the numbers don’t slow dramatically in September, this could well be the worst year in modern U.S. history for illegal immigration.
Starting with records in 1960, before the U.S. Southern Border was a hotbed for illegal crossings, there were 21,000 apprehensions of illegal aliens in a year.
It wasn’t until 1983 that the number topped one million for the first time: 1,033,974.
Through July of the current fiscal year (Oct. 1 2020-Sept. 30, 2021), Customs and Border Protection reports more than 1.33 million encounters with illegal aliens at the U.S. Southern Border.
With two months yet to count, 2021 already tops every year recorded in history except 1986 (1,615,844), 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000 (1,643,679).
That doesn’t count the 37,000 “got aways” in July, who were seen via surveillance but not caught— more than 1,000 a day. And then there are those who are never detected or counted at all.
Of those who are taken into custody, more than half are allowed to stay and are released in the U.S.
