The number of migrant encounters at the southern border has smashed through the two million mark this fiscal year, breaching the already-historic 1.7 million encounters last year — but those numbers by themselves do not state how have been released into the U.S., or account for hundreds of thousands of others who have slipped past Border Patrol.
There have been more than two million migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border in FY2022, as Border Patrol agents deal with a migrant crisis unprecedented in U.S. history and one that the Biden administration has so far failed to slow, despite its claims that the border is “secure.”
However, the encounters can include multiple attempts by the same migrants. Additionally, nearly half of the encounters have resulted in expulsion under Title 42, implemented in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of those expelled will make multiple efforts to cross the border, resulting in multiple encounters with Border Patrol.
So far this fiscal year, over 920,000 encounters have resulted in a Title 42 expulsion, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), with about the same number (912,575) processed under what is known as Title 8. However, some will be transferred straight into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody; others can be returned via voluntary return or expedited removal if they either do not claim asylum or do not pass an initial asylum screening.
Source: CBP
