More Startling Takeaways from CBP’s Saturday Morning ‘News Dump’ Stats
A big reason why ‘immigration’ is surging as a concern for American voters
By Andrew R. Arthur on October 23, 2023
On Saturday, I analyzed much-delayed statistics for September that CBP published that morning on the number of aliens (1) apprehended by Border Patrol agents after crossing the nation’s borders illegally and (2) stopped by CBP officers in the agency’s Office of Field Operations (OFO) branch at the ports, collectively known as “encounters”. As September is the last month of the federal government’s fiscal year, that weekend “news dump” also summarized CBP’s FY 2023 encounters, as well. Those numbers, as I explained, revealed just how significantly border security has degraded under the Biden administration, but I barely even scratched the surface on how “truly wretched” they are. The bigger picture is likely why “immigration” has surged to second place among voters in the most recent polls.
“Family Units” Continue to Surge. Last month, Border Patrol agents at the Southwest border apprehended more than 103,000 illegal migrant adults and children traveling in “family units” (FMUs). As with many of the statistics in that release, it’s a new monthly record for FMU apprehensions, and a 10-percent increase over the old record, set in August.
That family unit surge is problematic for three reasons.
The first is border security. Nearly all those adults and kids were likely what is known as “give-ups”, aliens who cross the border illegally and either sit patiently and wait for agents to come and round them up or who seek out the first law-enforcement officer they can find to turn themselves in.
https://cis.org/Arthur/More-Startling-Takeaways-CBPs-Saturday-Morning-News-Dump-Stats
