Former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the number of crossings at the United States-Mexico border is "bigger than anything" he saw in his term.
Johnson appeared on America's Newsroom Thursday to comment on the increasing attempts at crossing the border since President Joe Biden took office and slowly implemented his own immigration policies. Among Biden's actions include dismantling Title 42, which allowed immigrants to be turned away to prevent spreading COVID-19, and issuing fast-track work documents for nearly half a million Venezuelan illegal immigrants.
"There are a lot of people entering our southern border right now, thousands and thousands," Johnson said. "It's a hemispheric move north, bigger than anything we've ever seen."
The total number of people apprehended for illegally crossing the border or reported as evading capture last month was at least 261,327. This was the greatest number reported in August in U.S. history, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data on record.
"And the challenge for our Border Patrol, for our Customs, for DHS, for the FBI, is to try to keep up," Johnson said.
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Meanwhile, Biden has announced the construction of 20 more miles of border wall in Texas.
On the first day of his presidency, $8.5 million had been put toward the wall, with another $2 million that former President Donald Trump had redirected from the Pentagon going unspent and ultimately being returned. Instead, the $5 million allotted by Congress toward infrastructure is now going to fill 129 gaps in the wall.