Border Crisis Continues With No End In Sight

WASHINGTON, DC – The Biden administration has kicked off the new fiscal year with a historic number of border encounters. Today, Homeland Security Republicans released the latest edition of the “Startling Stats” fact sheet, detailing new data on the crisis at the southwest border.

Download the fact sheet here.

Key Facts:

• 164,303 migrants were encountered along the southwest border in October 2021. This is the highest number of encounters for October in recorded history.

• The border crisis is much more than migrants seeking asylum – criminals, weapons, drugs, and trafficked persons are coming across our border in record numbers.

• In just the first month of this fiscal year, CBP arrested 688 individuals with criminal convictions and dozens of known gang members, including 23 members of MS-13.

• In October 2021, CBP seized a total of 1,044 pounds of fentanyl. The U.S. recently recorded its highest number of drug-overdose deaths in a 12-month period, eclipsing 100,000 for the first time.

• Border Patrol Agents are already overwhelmed at current staffing levels and simply cannot afford to lose any personnel due to the Biden administration’s vaccine mandate.

Ranking Member Katko, along with Homeland Security Committee Republicans and House Republican leadership, introduced the Border Security for America Act of 2021 (H.R. 4828), which would secure our borders by resuming construction of the border wall system, deploying effective technology, and placing more boots on the ground. The legislation earned the support of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents approximately 18,000 Border Patrol Agents and support personnel.