Illegal crossings over southern border in first four months of 2023 is more than population of Alaska

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By BETHANY BLANKLEY | THE CENTER SQUARE

The number of people illegally entering the U.S. solely through the southern border in the first four months of this year is greater than the population of Delaware, the home state of the president, and the populations of five other states.

So far this year, at least 1,047,528, people have been apprehended or reported evading capture, according to data analyzed by The Center Square. The total is greater than the estimated populations of Delaware (1,031,985), South Dakota (923,484), North Dakota (780,588), Alaska (732,294), Vermont (647,156) and Wyoming (583,279).

The numbers are larger than 290 of the 300 largest cities in the U.S., edging out the population of Austin, Texas, which is currently the 10th largest city.

Combined, they also total more than the individual estimated populations of 75 countries and territories, including Figi, Luxembourg and the Bahamas.

In April, at least 284,864 foreign nationals were apprehended or reported as gotaways, those who evade capture after illegally entering the U.S. In March, apprehensions and gotaways totaled at least 266,824; February’s numbers totaled at least 279,842; January’s totaled at least 215,998, according to the data.

The data is derived from official CBP reports in addition to gotaway data obtained by The Center Square from a Border Patrol agent. The agent provided the information on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. It only includes Border Patrol data and excludes Office of Field Operations data, meaning the numbers are higher than reported.

CBP does not make public the gotaway data. If it did, the numbers would be higher.

Last month was an anomaly, with the Rio Grande Valley Sector of Texas reporting roughly one-third fewer gotaways than it normally does, which indicates in part that there are fewer agents in the field to detect and report them. The majority of agents have been pulled off the line, away from their statutory duty of homeland security, to instead process a record number of foreign nationals who’ve illegally entered the U.S. to be released instead of removed.

The gotaway numbers also don’t tell the whole story, the Border Patrol agent and others in law enforcement have explained to The Center Square, because they don’t include unknown and unrecorded gotaways – as in the case of the RGV last month. Not all gotaways are recorded because not all are identified, meaning the number of those illegally entering the U.S. is expected to be much greater than reported.

The April numbers were released as CBP reported that at least 332 known or suspected terrorists have been apprehended at the southern and northern borders this fiscal year.

Former CBP Chief Tom Homan has warned that, “What’s happening is the greatest national security threat since 9/11. Border Patrol has arrested people from 171 countries. Many of these countries are sponsors of terrorism.”

Pointing to the record number of gotaways, now estimated to total over 1.7 million since January 2021, he said, “If you don’t think a single one of the 1.7 million is coming from a country that sponsors terrorism, then you’re ignoring the data. That’s what makes this a huge national security issue.”

Because Border Patrol agents have been pulled off the line, “not doing their law enforcement mission to protect our nation,” former CBP chief Mark Morgan said, “our borders [are] completely wide open, completely vulnerable.”

As a result, he said, the Biden administration has “literally handed over operational control over to the cartels. With no agents on the line, the cartels exploit this every day.”

“The amount of drugs pouring in through the border kill 9,000 Americans every 30 days,” Morgan said. “It’s equivalent to a fully loaded 737 [plane] crashing into a mountainside killing everybody on board – every single day.”

32 COMMENTS

  1. According to Numbers USA, there were more than 50 Million illegals living in the USA prior to the Pandemic costing Taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Whatever number biden’s spokespeople put out needs to be multiplied at least 10 fold…

  2. Nobody in DC cares.

    -The unions are protected.
    -Business gets dirt cheap labor who won’t ask questions.
    -The left gets their next wave of generationally welfare dependent voters.
    -Human traffickers get fresh “meat” to sell.
    -Drug dealers get more product.
    -The progressives get to feel morally superior since they will send all these illegals to poor parts of America and as possible red states to try to flip them.

    We the People, what do we get? Terminally screwed.

    But remember what is really important: Orange Man made mean tweets. And to much of society that makes all this OK.

    • Kindly describe how an employer hires an illegal alien who has no SSN? Do they pay “under the table?” If so, the employer pays the illegal alien with after-tax green cash; its inconvenient and risky. Tax evasion is a felony with huge fines and risk of prison. What happens when the illegal alien gets injured on the job? The employer can’t file a workman’s comp claim so what then? Do they shoot the employee and toss his body in the river? Who are all these thousands of under-the-radar, criminal, employers?

      • You are either joking or incredulously naive. Fist open your eyes and mind to the realities of the gross negative economic impact of illegal immigration, $182 billion.

        When asked how many eating establishments have undocumented workers in the kitchen in her Midwestern city, Lynn states flatly: “A hundred percent.

        “Jaime, has been using a fake Social Security number since he came to the U.S. from Mexico 21 years ago. He says he paid an underground seller $60 for it and didn’t ask any questions.

        “We had to pay to get a Social,” he says. “We know [that] is illegal,” he says, and added that “we don’t have that, we not gonna have jobs.” Jaime also agreed to speak frankly if his surname was not used.

        Across the country, immigrants who are in the country unlawfully often do manual, low-paying jobs, and employers say they have no choice but to rely on them.

        Two weeks ago, Immigration and Customs Enforcement raided seven chicken processing plants in Mississippi. Agents rounded up 680 workers in one of the largest workplace enforcement actions in contemporary history. They were earning $11 to $12 an hour to dismember poultry — dangerous, brutal, repetitive labor.
        Nearly one in ten California workers is an undocumented immigrant.

        California’s labor force includes about 1.75 million undocumented immigrants, according to the PRC. This is the second-highest statewide concentration of undocumented workers (9.0%) in the US after Nevada (10.4%). Undocumented immigrants work disproportionately in agriculture, construction, and manufacturing.

  3. I wonder how these concerns might be predicated on R’s refusing $7+ BILLION dollars in border support in 2022?

    • “Border Support”, or “Border Enforcement”? What were we supposed to be buying and what was on the menu? The difference is important. Words, especially in Washington D.C. can’t be counted on to tell the entire story. Support makes it easier to just show up at the border and become an illegally present alien with no consequences – heck, with Government support for generations to come. Enforcement is the thing nations do to protect their citizens, their territory, and their hard-won freedoms.

      • Hi, Jefferson,
        I don’t comment often, so I don’t know all the folks on the dance floor. Maybe I’m wasting my time… and, your comment was amazingly succinct!

        Where can I send you a beer and a cigar?
        ¯\_( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)_/¯

        • Hello Bob,

          I’m glad that you enjoyed my comment, as relatively uncivil as it was.
          This particularly poster has just irked me (and probably many others here) SO many times with her spewing of the hyper-partisan, radical leftist dogma and dog product that I have very, very little patience for her anymore.

          • Jefferson maybe you should get a hobby or something? Maybe you’re spending too much time being an armchair politician? Go volunteer in your community or something useful. Bashing people online because that don’t agree with you, well it makes you a liberal.

  4. I wonder how these people are supporting themselves. Seems like some enterprises must be encouraging the cheap labor. I think it’s time for some CEOs to get jail time.

    • USA Taxpayers’ government debt is supporting many of them with housing, healthcare, food debit card and education (including college). California & New York allow them to vote democrat….

    • They’re costing taxpayers between 2,000 and 4,000 a month in food, housing, free phone, and a cash stipend. Plus they get free healthcare and their children go to school for free.

    • Some interesting film of half built housing neighborhoods in Florida left as DeSantis banned migrant workers AP. YES those hiring illegally need to face justice. Perhaps we need to tighten those restrictions and penalties.

      • Agree 100%. Also bring our soldiers home instead of occupying foreign countries. Put one third on southern border, one third on northern border, and the other third rounding up those who illegally crossed our borders. In addition to being “home”, the soldiers and their families will be spending their salaries in and helping the economy of the country that employs them.

  5. Put the military on the border, shoulder to shoulder, muzzles outboard and orders to shoot anyone trying to cross outside of the officially designated check points.

  6. Hasn’t the US been busy destroying other countries and their homes? If you cut down a tree with a squirrel’s nest in it, that squirrel is going to migrate and move into your attic. What do you expect?

    • Sharon, I would expect them to have the sense to eliminate the squirrel first. I agree that we should keep our war machine out of other countries. We have done nothing to Mexico or South America to cause their people to “move into our attic”.

  7. Democrat state legislators want kidney transplants given to illegal aliens ahead of American Citizens

    ‘https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2023/05/19/new-york-democrats-eye-organ-transplants-for-illegal-aliens-as-americans-die-on-wait-list/

  8. The point has nothing to do with how employers will treat these people, or even CO levels… The main point is that these people are NOT “migrants”. They are illegal aliens. We have a clear legal framework in place for those interested in becoming new citizens. Leftists are purposely making a mockery of those laws because they believe a huge wave of illegal immigration will help their political cause. We should have military stationed and ready to repel these people. – M.John

  9. Wow, is Sullivan finally admitting to the Obama/Biden led invasion of the USA? What took you so long Dan? Now that there are enough military age males in the country to give weapons to so you can complete the 2020 insurrection and overthrow of our government, you finally bring attention to it. Get ready folks the end of 2023 is going to be rough.

  10. What we need are a thousand buses running 24/7 full of these criminal invaders headed back to the Mexican border.

  11. Sullivan says “ dereliction of duty for President “ . I’d say dereliction of duty for Congress and entire Senate . Mitch McConnell is crickets over this debacle . Neither of our Alaska Senators voted for Trump and barely supported any of his policies . All Grifters ! Time to flush the proverbial toilet in DC

  12. Yes just as the Democrat Pelosi keeps harping “we NEED those illegals here to harvest the food we eat”. (It sounds like she has experience in the illegal labor industry) What I would like to know is how did we survive before? It appears we have millions more mouths to feed and house and educate. At least the cartels democrat run nonprofits and churches are getting rich off of this vote getting scheme.

  13. Can’t find inexpensive housing? Your schools overcrowded? Waiting line at the ER? Cops too busy to answer emergency calls? More gang violence? Prisons full? Thank our border policy.

  14. Maybe if we quit buying their drugs they wouldn’t have such bad hang problems and they would be able to stay in their own countries?

  15. Can we just squeeze another pic of Sully in there somewhere? You can never have enough Sully-Love.

  16. White House Official: Biden’s Migration Is an Economic Strategy

    ‘https://www.breitbart.com/economy/2023/05/21/white-house-bidens-migration-is-an-economic-strategy/

    Yes, to break our economy…

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