The latest numbers from the border were released on Friday, revealing that the U.S. Border Patrol recorded 181,059 encounters between ports of entry along the Southwest border.
CBP’s total encounters along the Southwest border in August were 232,972. These numbers do not reflect the number of illegal aliens who evaded federal agents and escaped into the interior of the United States.
Among CBP’s 232,972 overall encounters along the Southwest border in August 2023, only 11% involved individuals who had at least one prior encounter in the previous 12 months, compared to an average one-year re-encounter rate of 14% for fiscal years 2014 – 2019 and a repeat encounter rate of 35% in August of 2022.
Experts say the decreasing percentage is because there are fewer removals under the Biden administration, resulting in fewer previously deported individuals attempting to illegally enter again.
“They aren’t being caught in the same quantities trying to re-enter the country because they aren’t being kicked out anymore.” lamented one observer.
The number of unique individuals encountered by CBP along the Southwest border was 164,911 in August 2023.
Arizona’s Congressional Caucus has been largely silent on the matter with the exception of Congressman Andy Biggs, who has called for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to be impeached for his failure to take steps to secure the border.
In August, all 31 Republican members of the Arizona House of Representatives signed a letter written by Rep. David Marshall, citing the “Necessity of Executive Action in Response to the Biden Administration’s Failures and Unconstitutional Border Policies.”
The House members called on Governor Katie Hobbs and Attorney General Kris Mayes to take action to protect Arizonans from the ravages of the surge, which include the spread of tuberculosis. None of the Democrat Arizona House members signed the letter.
While Arizona Democrats ignore the situation, it has grown so dire that it prompted Hobbs and Pima County Supervisor Adelita Grijalva to speak out – albeit for more money, not more border security.
A day after US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) leadership notified the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office and County Emergency Services that illegal migrants would be released on the streets, Hobbs and Grijalva, both staunch open border supporters, joined Sheriff Mark Dannels in calling for more undefined “resources.”
The trio called on the federal government to take immediate action and deliver more money to Arizona border communities, although they refrained from blaming the Biden administration for deliberately failing to secure the border and preventing the problem from continuing to happen.
So our federal government is now dropping illegals off in Safeway parking lots in Bisbee, AZ?!!! This is egregious!!! pic.twitter.com/vWu7LiYf3p
— AZ Representative Rachel Jones (@RJ4arizona) September 14, 2023
National Border Patrol Council tweeted:
DHS personnel in Arizona are now using the term “freedom runs” when instructing BP agents about mass releases of illegal aliens in Tucson.
As previously reported by Cronkite News, migrant encounters at the southwest border surged in July, rising from 144,566 in June to 183,503 in July, with migrant families accounting for more than three-quarters of that increase, according to the latest data from Customs and Border Protection.
However, the August entries appear to be mostly single men of military age.
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