The number of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border continues to climb as President Joe Biden’s border crisis rages on. According to the newest monthly data, U.S. Customs and Border Protection made more than 180,000 apprehensions at the southern border in May alone. That is more than 14,000 more captures than the last record number of May border crossings in 2000.
One of the most notable portions of the May report is the growing number of single adults who “continue to make up the majority of these encounters.” While apprehensions of unaccompanied minors decreased by 23 percent and captures of families fell by 31 percent, CBP expelled at least 112,000 singles under Title 42 in May’s 31 days.
Of the illegal aliens who attempted to pass the southern border undetected, nearly 40 percent had previously attempted a border crossing within the last year.
“Thirty-eight percent of encounters in May 2021 were individuals who had at least one prior encounter in the previous 12 months, compared to an average one-year re-encounter rate of 15 percent for Fiscal Years 2014-2019,” the report noted.
In addition to a rise in single individuals crossing the border, often looking for work, Border Patrol agents saw a significant increase in drug trafficking. In May alone, officials seized at least 18 percent more drugs than they did in April. The report notes that “cocaine interceptions decreased 18 percent,” but seizures of methamphetamine increased by 53 percent, heroin by 7 percent, and fentanyl by 9 percent.
“Seizures in Fiscal Year 2021 through May are 56 percent higher than all of Fiscal Year 2020,” the report states.
As Biden’s border crisis rages on, the White House continues to refuse to take effective action. Border crisis head Vice President Kamala Harris defended her refusal to visit the U.S.-Mexico border and the people attempting to manage it nearly six months into the humanitarian crisis, by comparing it to her lack of presence in other foreign countries in Europe.
“You haven’t been to the border,” NBC’s Lester Holt noted.
“I haven’t been to Europe,” Harris said, shrugging off the question. “And I don’t understand the point that you’re making. I’m not discounting the importance of the border.”
Harris spent part of her week visiting Guatemala, one of the Northern Triangle countries, which she claims will give her more insight into the “root causes” of the influx of illegal border crossings. During her time on the trip, however, she ignored Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei’s pleas for the administration to do something about the rise in illegal aliens to instead blame the current problems on climate change and the economy.
