DHS Sets New Record for Illegal Immigration at Border in December; US Tallies 251,000 Border Stops in December for a New All-Time High

DHS sets new record for illegal immigration at border in December:

Homeland Security set a new record for chaos at the southern border in December with more than 250,000 encounters with illegal immigrants.

Border Patrol agents also detected 17 illegal immigrants whose identities were on the terrorist watch list, and Customs and Border Protection as a whole set a new record for fentanyl surging into the country.

The grim numbers were powered by large numbers of Cubans and Nicaraguans jumping the border.

But Biden administration officials also saw bright spots in the numbers, insisting that new programs put in place are shifting the patterns of illegal immigration for Venezuelans, who had surged late last year. Under a new program the administration created in October, Venezuelans who might otherwise attempt an illegal crossing can apply to come legally.

The number of Venezuelans jumping the border fell from about 22,000 in October to slightly less than 8,000 in November, and ticked up slightly to just more than 8,000 in December.

Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller trumpeted that change as evidence they’ve figured out some solutions.

“The December update shows our new border enforcement measures are working,” he said.

Homeland Security has already announced an expansion of the Venezuela program to Nicaraguans, Cubans and Haitians, and officials are hoping to see improvement in those numbers by the next monthly update.

But analysts worry that other nationalities are ready to surge as well. —>READ MORE HERE

US tallies 251,000 border stops in December for a new all-time high:

Federal officials tallied more than a quarter-million migrant encounters at the US-Mexico border last month — the highest monthly total ever recorded, according to a quiet Friday-night data dump from US Customs and Border Protection.

The 251,487 illegal-entry encounters at the southern border in December surpassed the 179,253 in December 2021 and the 73,994 in December 2020, according to CBP figures.

The number was even greater than the peak in 2022’s historic year, when migrant encounters hit 241,136 in May, at the start of the typically busier summer months.

Republicans, already furious over the spiraling migrant crisis, were aghast.

“Breaking — 251,487 illegal border crossings last month — that’s the highest monthly total EVER recorded,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tweeted Friday. “It’s no coincidence—Biden was sworn in 2 years ago today.”

The president’s policies “have opened our border to more illegal crossings, more terrorism suspects, and more deadly fentanyl,” McCarthy charged. —>READ MORE HERE

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