Migrant Crossing Surges Aren’t New. Why Is the Border Overwhelmed?
President Biden’s tenure has coincided with a global rise in migration, and the pressure has been felt acutely at the United States’ southern border. Officials caught migrants crossing the border without authorization more than five million times from February 2021 to March this year, according to the most recent data available — the highest number of arrests in decades.
Officials are bracing for a bigger surge after the Biden administration lifts an emergency health rule, known as Title 42, that has been used millions of times to swiftly expel migrants.
Some 660,000 migrants were waiting in Mexico earlier this month, most likely poised to cross into the United States in the coming days and weeks, according to a Homeland Security intelligence analysis obtained by The New York Times. And migrants are still making their way north through Central America.
On Tuesday, border officials apprehended more than 11,000 migrants who had crossed illegally, according to internal data, an increase over the 7,000 to 8,000 crossings a day last week.
Source: The New York Times
