It's a Record: Three Million Illegals Were Caught at the Border in FY 2023

AP Photo/Morgan Lee

The number of illegal aliens who crossed the United States border from October 1, 2022, to September 30, 2023, exceeded three million.

The Customs and Border Protection reported Saturday that agents encountered 3,201,144 illegal immigrants at the border — 434,000 more than last year.

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“Once again, the Biden administration has the distinction of setting a record—unfortunately, it’s historically bad,” Simon Hankinson, a senior research fellow for The Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center, told The Daily Signal.

“Not only are ‘encounters’ by U.S. agents at the southern border the worst ever, but northern numbers are at unprecedented levels too,” Hankinson noted.

Yes, times are hard in many nations across Central and South America. But that’s only part of the reason so many poor, desperate people want to come to America. Joe Biden has also invited them.

No, the president hasn’t issued a formal invitation. But by relaxing asylum rules, allowing those who claim asylum (just about all the illegals who show up at our border) to remain in the U.S. until their court cases are heard, anyone who wants to come to the U.S. knows about sanctuary cities, sanctuary policies, and which cities have them and which don’t.

Once inside the U.S., the chances of getting caught and deported are nil as long as the illegal alien doesn’t commit another crime.

Three million people knew that. And that’s why they came here with no papers and not much of a shot of successfully getting asylum.

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Forget the shredding of our laws governing entry into the U.S. What about our national security?

Elected officials recently raised concerns over an increase in crossings into America at the southern border by foreign nationals whose home countries have links to terrorism.

Data obtained by Fox News shows that agents apprehended 6,386 nationals from Afghanistan between ports of entry in the two years between October 2021 and October 2023, as well as 3,153 from Egypt, 659 from Iran, and 538 from Syria. Fox said those numbers were confirmed by multiple Customs and Border Protection sources.

In March, the White House touted President Joe Biden’s border security policies.

“President Biden has taken historic steps to secure our border and rebuild a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system that was gutted by the previous administration,” the White House said, referring to the Trump administration.

We’re told by illegal immigration advocates that an “overwhelming majority” of those who are given notice to appear in an immigration court show up for their hearing. Some studies purport to show that 99% of asylum seekers show up for their court dates.

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It’s actually nowhere near that. That methodology includes a significant number of people who already detained and who are brought to immigration court. It also includes some cases that have already been closed.

A more reasonable estimate is that around 65%. of illegals show up for their initial court hearing.  That includes most illegals who retain an immigration attorney.

That means that 35% of this year’s haul of illegal aliens — more than one million — will disappear into the U.S. interior never to be seen or heard from again. Most won’t pay taxes but will enjoy most of the same benefits as taxpaying citizens.

It’s an injustice that needs to be addressed by the next president.

 

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