Record Immigration from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua Exceeds 2 Million Annual U.S. Border Arrivals
The number of reported migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal 2022 topped 2 million in August. This is a record high partly caused by unprecedented levels of immigration from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. government data Published Monday.
Last month, the number of migrant encounters along the southern U.S. border increased slightly to 203,598, downward trend Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data recorded over the past two months shows.
This number includes 181,160 border patrol arrests of immigrants who entered the United States illegally, about the same level as in July, while 22,437 immigrants and asylum seekers were held at official ports of entry. processed, a slight increase from the previous month.
With one month remaining, CBP agents stationed along the Mexican border processed more than 2.1 million immigrants in fiscal 2022. This significantly surpasses the previous record set in his 2021 fiscal year, when the agency recorded his 1.7 million migrant encounters.
However, the one million encounters CBP has recorded this fiscal year are the result of immigrants being rapidly deported to northern Mexico or their home countries under Title 42, a coronavirus-era order that blocks access to the U.S. asylum system. , CBP statistics show.
The unprecedented tally of encounters shows a significant number of people trying to enter the United States multiple times after being deported to Mexico under Title 42, which does not carry criminal or immigration penalties, unlike traditional deportation. Inflated by immigration.
Nearly a quarter of all migrants encountered in August involved individuals previously arrested by U.S. border agents in the past year, according to CBP.
One of the main drivers of rising immigration concerns over the past year under President Biden is the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. They have traveled a record number of US borders in recent months.
In August, migrants from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua accounted for more than a third of all border concerns. Their arrival is part of an unprecedented and widespread increase in immigration from outside Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, which accounted for the majority of migrants processed by U.S. border officials prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. were citizens of these countries.
More than 25,000 Venezuelans were detained at the US border in August, a monthly record, making Venezuela the second-largest source of migrants to the southern border after Mexico.
Nearly 7 million Venezuelans have fled their homes as part of the largest displacement crisis in the western hemisphere, according to the report. united nationsWhile many have settled in other South American countries such as Colombia, Venezuelans hoping to reach the United States have hit record numbers in the past month in the roadless Panama. We are crossing the Darien Gap which is a jungle. government data show.
CBP personnel along the U.S.-Mexico border also processed more than 19,000 Cubans and nearly 12,000 Nicaraguans in August.
Unlike Mexicans and most Central Americans, the United States generally cannot deport Venezuelans, Cubans, and Nicaraguans to Mexico or their home countries. This is due to restrictions imposed by Mexico and strained diplomatic relations with the authoritarian governments of Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua. For this reason, most immigrants from these countries are processed and then released so they can continue to apply for asylum in the United States.
The Biden administration attributes the mass exodus from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua to the policies of leftist governments and the dire economic conditions many people face there.
“Failed communist regimes in Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba are sparking new waves of migration across the Western Hemisphere, including recent increases in encounters at the U.S. Southwest border,” CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said Monday. said in a statement.
This year’s unprecedented immigration wave poses a formidable operational and humanitarian challenge to the Biden administration, which took office promising to build a more humane immigration system, including through the reversal of some of the hardline border policies of the Trump era. created the above problem.
For example, in El Paso, Texas, U.S. border officials were recently forced to release hundreds of immigrants into the city because the facility’s capacity was exhausted.
Record levels of border concerns have also become a political liability for the Biden administration, with Republicans in Congress and governors’ offices across the country accusing it of being too lenient on immigrants entering the country illegally.
Political tensions over border policy have intensified this month with initiatives by Republican governors of Texas and Florida. transport immigrants In certain Democratic-led jurisdictions, such as Washington DC, New York, Chicago, and Martha’s Vineyard.
Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Rob DeSantis say jurisdictions with so-called “sanctuary” policies that limit their cooperation with federal deportation agents are better prepared to accept immigrants. claims to be They also say the tactic is intended to put pressure on the administration to enact tougher border policies.
But the Biden administration and Democrats have denounced the immigration transport plan as inhumane, saying Republican-led states are inhumanely treating asylum seekers for political gain.
One reason for the increase in border encounters in August is the Biden administration’s continued efforts to increase the handling of asylum seekers at customs, with experts saying some immigrants were illegally I believe they are discouraging me from entering the country.
In August, at customs ports along the southern border, U.S. officials admitted 15,906 asylum seekers deemed vulnerable under Title 42 humanitarian exemptions, according to government data shared with federal courts. , a 37% increase from July.
Over 130,000 Border Patrol Arrests One adult migrant was involved in August, half of whom were deported. 39,221 have involved parents and children traveling as a family, most of whom have been released on court notice. According to CBP data, 11,013 were unaccompanied minors transferred to government shelters.
While immigration unrest has reached record levels under the Biden administration, illegal border crossings across the board have was higher In the early 2000s, Border Patrol had few agents and technology to arrest individuals, including those trying to evade detection.
Editor’s Note: In a previous version of this report, CBP said it recorded more than 2 million arrests along the Southern Border this year. CBP has recorded more than two million “encounters”, including arrests by Border Patrol agents and immigrants processed at ports of entry.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/annual-u-s-border-arrests-top-2-million-fueled-by-record-migration-from-venezuela-cuba-and-nicaragua/ Record Immigration from Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua Exceeds 2 Million Annual U.S. Border Arrivals