WASHINGTON, D.C. –– Today, the House Committee on Homeland Security released its April “Startling Stats” factsheet, outlining the April 2024 U.S Customs and Border Protection (CBP) border encounter data. According to CBP, Southwest border encounters exceeded 179,000 last month, and total nationwide encounters exceeded 247,000. The Biden administration is now on track to hit 10 million encounters at America’s borders nationwide well before the end of the fiscal year––showing the border crisis remains at catastrophic levels.

One of the most revealing statistics revealed by CBP was that encounters at Southwest border ports of entry in April 2024 grew nearly 100 percent compared to April 2021. This is evident through the number of appointments scheduled through the CBP One mass-parole scheme, which skyrocketed to more than 591,000 since January 2023. In addition, more than 434,000inadmissible aliens have arrived in the U.S. since the official launch of the CHNV mass-parole program, with the majority arriving through Florida, Texas, New York, and California airports—as DHS documents obtained by the Committee via subpoena showed. 

It is clear that the Biden administration has used unlawful mass-parole programs to shift hundreds of thousands of inadmissible aliens to ports of entry for release into the interior, often with little or no vetting. The end result is the same—a continuing, historic border crisis.

As the influx at our Southwest border continues to overwhelm Border Patrol agents, Air and Marine Operations (AMO) agents, and CBP officers, our northern border is now experiencing a surge of illegal crossings, as well. Encounters at the northern border in April FY24 increased 1,240 percent compared to April of FY21. For the second month in a row, encounters along the busiest sector of the northern border, the Swanton Sector, hit their highest total on CBP record (1,470). In fact, in the final week of April, the Swanton Sector reported the apprehension of 220 illegal aliens — the highest number of weekly arrests on the sector’s record.

According to Border Patrol officials along the northern border, the majority of these are individuals attempting to evade apprehension, which differs from the Southwest border, where border sector chiefs told the Committee that large groups now turn themselves in to Border Patrol in the hopes of being released directly into the country. The vast majority of those crossing illegally along the northern border are single adults, raising concerns about the possible security threats posed by individuals who would forgo release into the United States with a court date. 

Key Facts:

• Since President Biden and Secretary Mayorkas took office, there have been more than 9.5 million encounters nationwide and more than 7.8 million encounters at the Southwest border.
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recorded 247,837 encounters nationwide in April, including 179,725 at the Southwest border (SWB). SWB encounters increased 5% compared to April of Fiscal Year (FY) 2021. Additionally, nearly 2 million known gotaways have evaded U.S. Border Patrol under this administration.
• Since January 2023, 591,000 individuals have scheduled appointments with the app. 
• Since the program began, 434,800 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans have been mass paroled under the administration’s CHNV parole program.
• Since FY21, 362 aliens on the terrorist watchlist have been caught crossing our Southwest border illegally.
• Encounters at the northern border in April of FY24 increased 1,240% compared to April of FY21.

 
 
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