144,571 illegal immigrants were encountered crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in June
WASHINGTON – Today, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel released the following statement on the June border encounters:
“Under Biden’s failed leadership, our communities are less safe as smugglers and cartels are thriving. Biden and Harris’s failed open border agenda has proven to be the root cause of this record-shattering border crisis, and Republicans will continue to hold this administration accountable and put the safety of our families and communities first.”
Background:
- New data shows 144,571 illegal immigrants were apprehended attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border in June.
- For 28 straight months, monthly apprehensions have been higher than even the highest month seen under the previous administration.
- With roughly 4,800 daily encounters, this dwarfs the definition of a "crisis" set by Obama's DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson when he said in 2019 that "more than 1,000" apprehensions a day "overwhelms the system."
- June’s 144,000-plus encounters is a 186 percent increase from the average number of June apprehensions from 2017-2020.
- 7,288 unaccompanied children were apprehended.
- 66,658 illegal immigrants were apprehended from countries outside the Northern Triangle and Mexico, showing that Biden's crisis is global.
- At least 140 people on the terror watchlist have been apprehended trying to enter the U.S. between ports of entry so far this fiscal year – breaking the all-time record of 98 set last year.
- Earlier this year, Border Patrol mistakenly released a terror watch list suspect into the United States.
- This includes the 5.6 million illegal immigrants that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has apprehended and the more than 1.4 million gotaways that have escaped past Border Patrol into the U.S.
- Border officials say that the official number of gotaways vastly undercounts the illegal immigrants who make it into the U.S.
- 7 million illegal immigrants have crossed the border since Biden took office.
- Illicit drugs are flowing into the country at an alarming rate, with only 5 to 10 percent being intercepted as border officials struggle to contain the smuggling.
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