By Trevor Schakohl
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported over 227,000 migrant encounters along the southern border in September, outpacing every other September on record, according to new agency statistics revealed Friday.
The agency clocked roughly 2.3 million migrant encounters for fiscal year 2022, shattering the previous record, and took over 2.7 million enforcement actions nationally in fiscal year 2022, up more than 41% over fiscal year 2021, according to its data. CBP said 19% of the September southern border encounters involved people encountered at least one other time in the past 12 months (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Afghan Migrants Say UN Workers Gave Them Directions To US Border)
“CBP and DHS will continue to work with our partners in the region to address the root causes of migration, expand legal pathways, facilitate removals,” CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said. Unique migrant encounters in September increased by about 15% nationwide over the previous month, CBP said. Unique encounters with individuals from those countries were 245% higher in September 2022 compared to September 2021.
CBP released operational statistics for September 2022, which can be viewed on our website.
Press release: https://t.co/o76cGqjdhZ
Stats: https://t.co/zaPvUqO08h pic.twitter.com/Kh3PR02eim— CBP (@CBP) October 22, 2022
On Oct. 12, the Department of Homeland Security announced joint actions with Mexico to reduce southern border arrivals, declaring that Venezuelans entering the U.S. between ports of entry would be sent back to Mexico “effective immediately.” Magnus claimed Friday that Venezuelan southern border arrivals had gone down almost every day since such actions started.
“Over the past week, the number of Venezuelans attempting to enter the country fell more than 80 percent compared to the week prior to the launch of the joint enforcement actions,” he said. “While this early data is not reflected in the latest report, it confirms what we’ve said all along: when there is a lawful and orderly way to enter the country, individuals will be less likely to put their lives in the hands of smugglers and try to cross the border unlawfully.”
