Over 207,000 Migrant Encounters at Southern Border in June, 2022 Slated to Dwarf 2021 Numbers – Opinion

The United States Department of Customs and Border Protection released numbers Friday showing that there were 207 416 encounters with migrants at the south border in June.

Although it shows a 13.9% decrease in May’s numbers, the number is still high. The 2022 fiscal year ends in September, and these May numbers put FY2022 over the edge of FY2021 with 1,746,119 encounters — a difference of 11,433 so far.

75% of all encounters were made by single adults in fiscal 2018, compared with 23% who arrived as part of a group.

While it’s likely that some of these encounters are repeats of the same people, it does not change the fact that people are arriving in the U.S. in droves.

There were 15271 unaccompanied minors crossing the southern border in June as compared to 14,678 encounters in May and 12,175 encounters April. Border Report reports that these children are in the custody of the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement.

States are now taking tougher actions at the border to stop the flow of migrants. RedState last week reported that Texas’ Republican Governor. Greg Abbott signed an executive order giving permission to his state’s National Guard to bring migrants back to the federal port of entry at the border.

“We’ve been saying it would get worse. It’s gotten worse. There is no functional border. It’s nothing but a speed bump for criminality with a reward system for breaking our laws, courtesy of the Biden Admin,” the National Border Patrol Council tweeted Saturday. The union has been a vocal opponent of the White House’s policies, as they are the workers that have to take on the difficult challenge of securing the border.

The consensus was that it would only get worse. It’s gotten worse. There is no functional border. This is a speed bump to criminality, with a reward system for violating our laws, provided by the Biden Administrator. https://t.co/9hTHSlyxj3

— Border Patrol Union – NBPC (@BPUnion) July 16, 2022

Migrant caravans travel illegally from Monterrey MX, to Piedras Negras, to reach Eagle Pass TX. Mexican governors have not cooperated with @GregAbbott_TXWe followed several of these groups to TX and reached an agreement to stop the illegal crossings. pic.twitter.com/WzzL0Ks7DD

— Jorge Ventura Media (@VenturaReport) July 18, 2022

The power of the states is still limited as border protection falls under the purview of federal law. There has been some push for states to declare an outright invasion to increase their power, but it’s unclear what that would actually entail legally.

When both Mexico and the federal government fail to meet their needs completely, border communities find themselves in difficult situations. And it doesn’t seem like they are going anywhere soon.