The U.S. Border Patrol projects 1.8 million immigrant apprehensions in fiscal year 2022, which started Oct. 1, 2021, according to a source within CBP who spoke with Breitbart.
More than 200,000 migrants have been apprehended already since that date, with most arrests occurring in the Rio Grande Valley Sector.
The Border Patrol reported more than 1.6 million encounters with migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border in the 2021 fiscal year, more than quadruple the number of the prior fiscal year, according to recently published data from the federal agency.
Migrant encounters refer to either expulsions, in which migrants are immediately expelled from the country, or apprehensions, in which migrants are detained in the United States.
Most encounters have resulted in expulsion since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the CBP data.
The influx has put a strain on immigration authorities and border communities' and has raised difficult questions for President Joe Biden.
Brandon Judd, president of the union that represents Border Patrol agents, told NPR the record number of apprehensions is taking a toll on CBP morale.
"I've never seen it as bad as what it is right now," he said.
"We just don't have the manpower and resources to do what we need to do to both detect and apprehend everything that's crossing the border.”
Biden has taken heavy criticism from Republicans on the border situation, including from Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt and Sen.Ted Cruz, R-Texas.
"I think there's a real sense of urgency here," Schmitt told Fox News in an interview Tuesday about the crisis. "You see record numbers of border crossings, the situation is just completely out of control."
Cruz on Wednesday slammed Biden on high inflation rates and the surge in border crossings and said Americans were “paying the price.”
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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