US southern border arrests hit all-time high of over 2M

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - Migrant arrests along the US-Mexico border have hit an all-time high of nearly 2.3 million, official statistics released Monday indicated.

US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said it has taken 2,242,413 migrants into custody during the current fiscal year. The total is the highest on record and comes amid annual increases seen since 2017, with the exception of 2020, when much of the world was shut down due to COVID-19 restrictions.

In August, CBP agents arrested over 203,000 people attempting to illegally cross into the US from Mexico, official data shows. That is a 1.7% increase from July. Around 22% of those arrested had been taken into custody once in the past year, CBP said.

Officials heaped blame on "failing communist regimes," with over 55,000 arrests being of people from Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba. That represents a 175% increase compared to the same month a year ago.

CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said the trio of countries are "driving a new wave of migration across the Western Hemisphere, including the recent increase in encounters at the southwest U.S. border."

"At the same time, the number of migrants entering from Mexico and northern Central America has decreased for the third consecutive month as the Biden-Harris administration works with our partners in the region to address the root causes of migration, facilitate repatriation, and take thousands of smugglers off the streets," he said in a statement.

"More individuals encountered at the border without a legal basis to remain will be expelled or removed this year than any prior year.”

Nearly 57,000 migrants from Mexico and northern Central America were arrested, marking a 43% decrease from August 2021.