What are the REAL Illegal immigration numbers? Ask that question to ten “in-the-know” government or media folks, and you’ll get ten different answers — all claiming to be “official.” It takes some real digging, sorting through the “trash” stories and claims, and then finally making some interesting discoveries. Let’s take a run at those:
The number of migrant encounters at the southern border has smashed through the two million mark this fiscal year, breaching the already-historic 1.7 million encounters last year — but those numbers by themselves do not state how have been released into the U.S. or account for hundreds of thousands of others who have slipped past Border Patrol.
There have been more than two million migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border in FY2022, as Border Patrol agents deal with a migrant crisis unprecedented in U.S. history and one that the Biden administration has so far failed to slow, despite its claims that the border is “secure.”
However, the encounters can include multiple attempts by the same migrants. Additionally, nearly half of the encounters have resulted in expulsion under Title 42, implemented in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of those expelled will make multiple efforts to cross the border, resulting in multiple encounters with Border Patrol.
So far this fiscal year, over 920,000 encounters have resulted in a Title 42 expulsion, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), with about the same number (912,575) processed under what is known as Title 8. However, some will be transferred straight into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody; others can be returned via voluntary return or expedited removal if they either do not claim asylum or do not pass an initial asylum screening.
According to CBP statistics, so far this fiscal year, more than 500,000 migrants have been released into the U.S. by Border Patrol on their own recognizance with a court date (called a Notice to Appear) or paroled into the U.S. and enrolled into Alternatives to Detention (ATD). That statistic does not include the final two months of FY22. The New York Times this week cited internal DHS documents and court filings to report that more than a million illegal migrants have so far been released into the U.S. for asylum hearings overall since Biden took office. That number will continue to rise in the months and years ahead.
About a third of those are being monitored under “Alternatives to Detention,” which typically includes checking in via a cellphone app but can also involve ankle bracelets or in-person visits. The ATD program has been touted strongly by the Biden administration, but Fox News Digital previously reported on a Trump-era draft report which described the program has “little value.”
But that estimate does not include the number of illegal immigrants who have not been formally released and have instead evaded Border Patrol, known as “gotaways.” Officials have estimated to Fox News in July that more than 500,000 are known to have slipped past agents in FY22 so far but have been detected by cameras or other sensors. There have been about 55,000 getaways each month this fiscal year.
That number is in addition to the 389,155 known gotaways that DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testified there were in FY21. The “known gotaways” by themselves, therefore, means that there have been approximately 900,000 known gotaways since the beginning of FY21 (including four months before President Biden took office), which is equivalent to a population bigger than the city of San Francisco sneaking across the border.
Even that number does not account for the numbers who have not only gotten past Border Patrol agents but who have also not been detected by technology. That number is difficult even to estimate.
Those who have entered illegally have typically been deported if encountered by ICE. However, the Biden administration imposed limits on the agency, restricting them from focusing on recent border crossers and national security and public safety threats.
That guidance has since been blocked by a court injunction, but arrests and deportations plummeted under the Biden administration. In FY21, ICE arrested 74,082 noncitizens and deported 59,011 — down from 103,603 arrests and 185,884 removals in FY20 and 143,099 arrests and 267,258 deportations in FY19.
Surprise, Surprise: Sanctuary State Governors Can’t Take The Heat They Push On Border States
Republican governors bearing the brunt of President Biden’s illegal immigration fiasco are fighting back by holding administration officials and Democrats accountable to their own standards.
In August, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) started taking Democrats at their word and began sending immigrants to sanctuary cities. In particular, they made their way to Washington, D.C.
“We celebrate our diversity and respect all DC residents no matter their immigration status. We are a sanctuary city because we know that our neighborhoods are safer and stronger when no one is afraid to call on our government for help, and when our police can focus on protecting and serving,” Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) wrote in 2016, reaffirming the nation’s capital as a sanctuary city.
But as soon as the reality of resource limits crashed right into an unplanned influx of illegal immigration to the city, Bowser immediately changed her tune.
“We’re not a border town. We don’t have the infrastructure to handle this type of and level of immigration to our city,” Bowser said last week, ignorantly implying small Texas border towns have the resources to manage overwhelming and unrelenting illegal immigration. “We don’t have the ability. We’re not Texas.”
Up the coastline, things came to a head when 50 migrants landed on Martha’s Vineyard last week after being sent by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). They were almost immediately whisked away by National Guard troops to a military installation. “We don’t have housing for 50 immigrants,” homeless shelter coordinator Lisa Belcastro told a local news station. “At some point in time, they have to move on from here to somewhere else.”
Caught flat-footed, the White House has failed to make a logical argument about why it’s appropriate for the Department of Homeland Security to transfer illegal immigrants to the interior of the country but inappropriate for governors to do the same.
“The Department of Homeland Security plans to transport migrants awaiting immigration proceedings from U.S. cities along the southern border farther into the interior of the country, beginning with Los Angeles,” NBC News reported in June. “The plan would alleviate overcrowding along the border, where record numbers of border crossers have overwhelmed the capacity of shelters in some cities, at times leading Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, to release migrants on the street to fend for themselves.”
Laughably, liberal pundits and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) have accused Republican governors of “kidnapping” for engaging in the very same transportation tactics as the Biden administration. However, there is a difference.
While the Biden administration has been flying planeloads of illegal immigrants to cities across the country for months, often in the middle of the night, Republican governors are doing it during the day for everyone to see. They’re sending them to sanctuary cities where people live with signs in their yards that say “Hate Has No Home Here,” “All Are Welcome,” and “No Human is Illegal.” Republican governors simply hold Democrats accountable to their standards while easing the illegal immigrant burden in their home states.
Biden officials and Democrats are outraged over the arrival of migrants in places like Martha’s Vineyard, while serious and long-term threats to America’s security are arriving every day.
New numbers from August show that 12 individuals on the terrorism watchlist have been apprehended. In fiscal 2022, that number sits at 78 and doesn’t include how many exist in the 500,000 illegal immigrants who got away from authorities and disappeared undetected into American cities. What are their plans? How do they plan to spend their time?
There are basic solutions to this problem, and “comprehensive immigration reform” is not one of them. President Biden could stem the flow of illegal immigration almost immediately by reimplementing Title 42, the “Remain in Mexico” policy, and by working with Congress to raise the bar for claiming asylum, which is being greatly abused and fueling the current crisis.
The White House continues to accuse Republican governors of engaging in “political stunts” while President Biden is engaged in his own politics. The open border policies promoted by Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas are in place to satisfy a far-left base. It’s also based on the Biden principle of reversing all Trump policies, regardless of their efficacy. Until this position changes, Republicans should continue to force Democratic jurisdictions to bear the burden of Biden’s destructive border positions.
Katie Pavlich contributed to this story; is the editor for Townhall.com and a Fox News contributor.
