Crossings at U.S. Mexico Border Highest in Over Two Decades

According to Homeland Security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the U.S. has encountered an ‘unprecedented’ number of migrants illegally crossing the U.S. southern border. During a press conference yesterday, Mayorkas said there was a sharp increase of migrants arriving at the U.S. Mexico border and many of them were fleeing deteriorating conditions in their home countries. Last month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended 212,672 people which is up from 188,800 in June and 180,034 in May. Of those from the past month, 95,788 of them were expelled and about 27% had previously tried to cross the border.

July marks the highest monthly number of migrants detained at the border in two decades. Also in July, customs officials arrested 18,962 unaccompanied children. Earlier this week, Mayorkas traveled to Mexico with a U.S. delegation to meet with officials. This month, the Biden administration also started flying migrants apprehended at the southern border to the interior of Mexico to try to keep them from attempting to cross the border again.