Migrant Apprehensions at Border Jump for Second Straight Month

The apprehension of migrants illegally crossing the Mexican border into the United States jumped from May to June by 41 percent. This represents the second consecutive month of increases.

Border Patrol agents apprehended or arrested 30,300 migrants in June who illegally entered the United States from Mexico. This represents a jump of nearly 41 percent over the previous month’s apprehension of 21,498, according to the June Southwest Border Migration report released on Thursday by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.

“In June 2020, CBP’s enforcement encounters with people crossing the border illegally totaled less than 33,000 encounters, 65 percent lower than the more than 104,000 encounters during the same month last year,” CBP Acting Commissioner Mark A. Morgan said in a statement provided to Breitbart. “Single adult Mexican nationals, who are generally seeking economic opportunities, accounted for almost 80 percent of the encounters.” Commissioner Morgan’s numbers combine both Border Patrol apprehensions and CBP encounters at ports of entry.

The largest demographic increase in terms of numbers came in the category of single adults. This number jumped from 19,567 in May to 27,178 in June — an increase of 7,611 (38.9 percent). Family Unit Aliens increased from 971 in May to 1,558 in June — an increase of 587 (60.5 percent). The apprehension of Unaccompanied Alien Children jumped from 960 in May to 1,564 in June — an increase of 604 (62.9 percent).

The increase comes at a time where migrants are likely to be exposed to the Coronavirus as they are transported and warehoused in human smuggling stash houses, Border Patrol officials previously told Breitbart Texas.

“While the number of encounters last month are not a surprise, this increase is still extremely concerning as we continue to battle the invisible enemy: COVID-19,” Morgan explained. “Therefore, it is imperative that we continue to build the border wall system and enforce CDC policies aimed at protecting the health of Americans. At the end of the day, CBP will continue to prevent and deter illegal crossings that endanger the life of the American public.”

Under Title 42 Coronavirus protection policies implemented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly all migrants are expelled to Mexico after being medically screened and the completion of a biometric criminal background investigation.

“The Title 42 CDC order has allowed our agents on the border to swiftly expel illegal aliens back to Mexico to minimize contact with other migrants, CBP personnel, and U.S. communities,” CBP officials told Breitbart in response to an inquiry. “The order is working just as it was intended: to keep Americans safe and help prevent the spread of COVID-19. CBP had more than 3,400 individuals in custody in early March and now averages around 200 at any given time because of this initiative and other travel restrictions. This is a significant improvement to normal border security operations.”

Since the beginning of the Title 42 protocols during late March, 69,210 migrants were expelled across the southwestern U.S. border into Mexico. Border Patrol officials said these expulsions do not count as deportation or removal for purposes of prosecuting illegal aliens who re-enter the U.S.

Including all of March (the Title 42 program began on March 2) Border Patrol agents apprehended a total of 98,079 migrants who illegally entered the U.S.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.