A law enforcement source within Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says between 1,800 and 2,000 migrants are managing to elude apprehension daily along the southwest border, Breitbart reported on Friday.
The total number of migrants escaping apprehension, a term referred to as the "got-away count," reached 75,000 in the fiscal year of 2022, beginning in October this year. Currently, the migrant got-away count for 2022 is likely to exceed more than 400,000 as reported in fiscal year 2021, the source revealed to the outlet.
The known got-away count is updated daily by the Border Patrol; the source told Breitbart. The data is entered into a system easily accessible to agency leaders. The metric is not usually released publicly and is often much lower than reality, the source said.
On Tuesday, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, questioned Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas about the issue.
"Now, you told another senator, you don't know how many 'got-aways' there have been?" Cruz asked Mayorkas.
"I will have to circle back, Senator, with that information," the secretary responded.
Mayorkas, when pressed harder by the Texas senator, admitted that he does not have additional data regarding the number of illegal aliens who have died attempting to cross the U.S. border.
Almost immediately after President Biden took office on Jan. 20, the number of migrants crossing the border exceeded expectations, according to PBS.
Children traveling alone shattered previous highs in March. In September, about 15,000 Haitian refugees were camped under a bridge in the small border town of Del Rio, Texas, for days.
The Biden administration is in talks to offer immigrant families separated during the Trump administration around $450,000 a person in compensation, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal last month.
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