Apprehensions of illegal immigrants surged from 132,652 in July to more than 177,000 in August, preliminary data reported by The Washington Post reveals.
The figure indicates that illegal border crossing attempts have consistently and substantially increased month over month since June, which experienced 99,539 reported apprehensions.The preliminary data reported by The Washington Post indicate that August also saw the crossing of 91,000 migrants who were categorized as part of a family unit, breaking the previous record of 84,486 in May of 2019.
The recent figures come as White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claimed that the Biden administration is “stopping the flow at the border.” Jean-Pierre also claimed that Biden has “done more” to secure the border “than anybody else.”
Illegal border crossings have surged under the Biden administration, with an estimated 1.5 million illegal immigrant gotaways being recorded since Biden took office in 2021. There were 415,000 total reported gotaways for 2018, 2019, and 2020 under the Trump administration. The number of illegal border crossings jumped to a record high in fiscal year 2022.There’s also been a 1,000% increase in illegal immigration from a number of different countries, including China, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and the Dominican Republic, among other countries.But the record-high increases in illegal immigration have also strained major cities far north of the border like Chicago and New York, which have struggled to house foreign nationals. Chicago passed a measure to provide $51 million in funding to house and feed migrants, while 50 places of worship in New York City are now being used to accommodate foreign nationals.
New York residents recently protested a potential plan to convert a former nursing home into a housing center for migrants.
