After a surge in border crossings predicted by Republicans in the aftermath of President Joe Biden’s May rescinding of Title 42 did not immediately materialize, the White House celebrated its supposedly successful border policy. This week, however, illegal crossings have come close to hitting record levels.

Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on May 14 celebrated an "approximately 50 percent drop" in encounters of illegal immigrants that had occurred in the two days after the Title 42 border restrictions were rescinded. The same month, Biden told members of the press that the border is looking "much better than you all expected."

Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin and others with Fox have captured footage detailing the dire state of the southern border. Over the weekend, border agents recorded 35,000 migrant encounters. The first three weeks of September averaged about 6,900 apprehensions per day, which is close to the record-setting level of 7,000 per day agents recorded in May and December 2022. 

The influx has led to the overcrowding of detention facilities and shelters, which has prompted authorities to release migrants into the country. Amid the surge, two migrants—a three-year-old boy and a middle-aged man—have drowned this week attempting to cross the Rio Grande. Neither death occurred near Texas governor Greg Abbott's (R.) floating buoy barrier, which has been a subject of controversy since he installed it in early July.