Staff Reports
The number of children arriving at the United States-Mexico border illegally has been increasing under President Joe Biden, creating a crisis that has not been seen under any other administration. Customs Border Protection data shows that in the first five months of Fiscal Year 2024, officials in San Diego encountered over 4,000 unaccompanied minors, which is on pace to surpass the 7,200 encounters from the previous year.
Immigrant Children Arriving at the Southern Border Alone Increases
https://t.co/4aJ5uF4Q7a— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) April 14, 2024
Since Biden took office, over 464,922 immigrant children have been stopped at the southern border, with about 95 percent successfully crossing illegally. The surge in arrivals began when the Biden administration exempted children from Title 42 and announced that they would not be removing children, according to Rodney Scott, the former Border Patrol chief.
Illegal immigrant minors who cross the border are being held in unofficial areas between the border fences in San Ysidro, following a court order to “expeditiously” process and re-locate them. This pattern of immigrant children arriving alone at the southern border has been consistent under the Biden Administration.
The open southern border has also allowed dangerous cartels to engage in drug and human smuggling, using children as pawns. Criminal organizations profit significantly from smuggling children into the U.S., making thousands of dollars per child.
The Biden Administration lifted previous border policies, which had been used for over three years to remove approximately three million illegal aliens, including the use of Title 42. President Biden’s order to halt the practice of sending immigrant children back to Mexico led to a rapid increase in unaccompanied minors arriving at the U.S. border daily. In 2021, Border Patrol agents apprehended about 144,000 immigrant children, and in 2022, over 149,000 children arrived at the southern border alone. It is projected that this number will reach 125,000 by the end of FY24 in September.
