(MENAFN) In September, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) arrested a total of 269,735 illegal immigrants across the US-Mexico border, the agency verified in a statement on Saturday. The overall number surpasses the May 2022 prior record.
Based on government statistics, the fiscal year 2023 also set an all-time high for illegal immigration entering the US, with 2.47 million recorded encounters topping even the record-setting 2.3 million in 2022.
The US Terrorist Screening Dataset included 169 migrants who were stopped by CBP in total in 2023—nearly two times as many as the year before. The number of fentanyl seizures at the border increased from 14,600 pounds (6,600 kg) to 27,000 pounds (just over 12,000 kg), almost doubling. In total, 15,267 "criminal noncitizens" were apprehended.
Along with the unprecedented volume of undocumented immigrants, CBP expedited the asylum application process in 2023 by processing approximately 43,000 requests through a smartphone app that it launched in January. Established last year to expedite the entrance of migrants fleeing nations whose governments Washington considers unfriendly, US President Joe Biden's new "parole" system allowed another 240,000 new entries this year, this time from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, as well as Haiti.
In the initial two weeks of October, the number of migrant encounters at the border finally started to decrease, as reported by the Customs and Border Protection (CBP), with a notable 20 percent decline during this timeframe. Concurrently, the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have intensified their efforts in deporting individuals who have been unsuccessful in their asylum claims and others who are in the country without authorization. This enforcement drive has led to the removal of over 300,000 people since May.
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