The U.S. Department of Homeland Security revealed it has seen a surge in the number of unlawful migrants attempting to cross the border, and the situation may continue to worsen.
Raul Ortiz, the head of the U.S Border Patrol Protection, says the U.S. expects to encounter more than 1 million unlawful migrants during the coming summer months, as the highest concentration of attempted border-crossings each fiscal year is historically seen during this period.
“Probably in the next 2 or 3 days we’ll get over a million encounters or apprehensions along the southwest border,” said Ortiz at a border security conference.
Ortiz also highlighted that Border Patrol is short on personnel and dealing with additional obstacles resulting from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, saying that “every sector is busier than it was in ’21.” He added that officers encountered migrants from 157 different countries, demonstrating the global nature of the United States’ border crisis.
According to Customs and Border Protection data, there were 164,973 interactions in February, up from 101,099 encounters in February 2021 and 36,687 in February 2020.
There were almost 1.7 million unlawful migrant interactions in the fiscal year 2021, with the bulk occurring in the second half of the year when encounters peaked at 213,000 in July.
Concerns further arise as the Biden administration is set to consider ending Title 42, an emergency public health order introduced by former President Donald Trump during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. The order was designed to allow the expulsion of potential migrants without offering a chance for asylum due to fears over public health.
In a letter to President Biden, Arizona Senators Mark Kelly and Kyrsten Sinema said, “Given the impacts that changes to Title 42 could have on border communities, border security, and migrants, we urge your administration not to make any changes to Title 42 implementation until you are completely ready to execute and coordinate a comprehensive plan that ensures a secure, orderly, and humane process at the border.”
Due to the increased frequency of unlawful migrants‘ arrival at the Southwest border, the Department of Homeland Security is seeking volunteers from its staff to help process arrivals.