Nearly a quarter million migrants tried to cross America’s besieged Southern border in November — the highest November number and the third-highest monthly total on record.
There were 242,418 encounters last month, according to the latest figures released by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Friday. It was
November’s tally has only been eclipsed twice before — in September when 269,735 migrants were encountered and in December 2022 when 252,315 migrants were encountered.
The startling figures were dumped just days before Christmas, prompting House Homeland Security Chair Mark Green (R-TN) to declare that the Biden administration “wants as few Americans to see them as possible.”
“By strategically holding the release of these numbers until the Friday before Christmas, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is unabashedly showing the full measure of his duplicity,” Green said in a statement.
“These numbers are so bad, he wants as few Americans to see them as possible.”
Green said he expected more records to get trampled in the coming weeks, calling Mayorkas’ management of the crisis “cowardly.”
“December’s numbers, which will be released in January, are anticipated to be even more grim,” he said. “Fortunately, next month the Secretary won’t have a major holiday as a convenient shield to hide behind.”
A fresh migrant surge could occur in the coming months as border crossers hustle to reach the US before a new Texas law is set to take effect in March.
Signed by Gov. Greg Abbott Monday, that legislation gives law enforcement officers in the state the power to arrest anyone suspected of entering the country illegally.
“This cowardly quest to evade accountability and transparency is further reason my Committee is initiating impeachment proceedings against Secretary Mayorkas early in the new year,” Green insisted.
“This devastating and utter disaster for our country will no longer be tolerated.”
In the 2023 fiscal year, more encounters were recorded on the southern border than year than any other since the government began collecting those records in 1960 — with an estimated total of 2.4 million.
The ongoing stampede is toppling prior highs on an almost daily basis, as dazed border agents try in vain to stem the influx in places like Eagle Pass, Texas.
Officials said there were 12,600 encounters at the southern border on Monday alone — a new daily record.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre attempted to downplay the numbers this week, telling reporters that the situation was not out of the ordinary.
“What we’re seeing here at the border, the increased migration flow, certainly, it ebbs and flows,” she said. “And we’re at a time of the year where we’re seeing more at the border. And it’s not unusual. This is an immigration system that has been broken for decades.”
But National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd told Fox News Friday that his members are growing increasingly disillusioned by their directives.
“While our agents are more than willing to sacrifice the holidays to protect fellow Americans, that’s not what they will be doing,” he said.
“They will be processing the illegal border crossers for release into the U.S. while large parts of the border will be left wide open to exploitation by organized crime. These will not be happy holidays for the hard-working men and women of the Border Patrol.”