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Immigrants were caught crossing the southern border of the United States more times last year than in any year since at least 1960, when the government began tracking the data.
It is the third consecutive record-breaking year, at a time when migration around the world is at historic highs.
There were more than 2.4 million arrests in fiscal year 2023, which ended in September. This surpasses the previous record, set a year earlier, of more than 2.3 million. according to government data released Saturday. During fiscal year 2021, there were more than 1.7 million arrests.
The immigration issue is a major political vulnerability for President Biden heading into the 2024 presidential election. Republicans say Biden’s border policies are weak. But administration officials note that the number of displaced people around the world has reached an all-time high in the past three years.
“This moment, when it comes to migration, is totally aberrational in terms of the historical importance that it has,” Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said this month. during the comments at the Baker Institute at Rice University in Texas.
“Before, when there was a migration crisis, it tended to be one country of origin, maybe one country of origin at a time,” Blinken added. “Maybe it was Haiti. Maybe it was Cuba. Perhaps it was Guatemala, Honduras or El Salvador, the countries of the so-called Northern Triangle. Now it is all of the above plus Venezuela, more Nicaragua, more Ecuador.”
Over the past year, the Biden administration implemented new law enforcement policies and legal pathways designed to reduce the number of illegal crossings at the southern border.
However, the number of immigration arrests outside ports of entry fell by about two million compared to a year ago. This is most likely the result of federal efforts to direct immigrants to make an appointment on a government smartphone app and enter the United States through an official port.
This path is much more organized and safer than swimming across the Rio Grande, for example. But demand is far greater than the number of appointments available, and some immigrants have been waiting months to get one.
Over the past year, Venezuelans made up the largest group of people to cross the border illegally after Mexicans. The United States recently agreed to ease some sanctions on Venezuela in the oil and gas sector, which some hope will stabilize the country and deter people from leaving. Recently, the United States also sent its first deportation flight to Caracas in years. Almost eight million Venezuelans have left their country since 2014.