500,000 Illegal Border Crossings a Month? Officials Say It’s Possible

Border officials warn that if the Biden-Harris administration revokes Title 42, border crossings could surge to 18,000 per day — or more than 500,000 a month. The decision to repeal the Trump-era rule that expedites immigrant expulsions — and, experts say, reduced the number of crossings — could come this week.

New York Times: A decision about the order, put in place by the Trump administration two years ago this month, could come as early as Wednesday, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention may decide whether to renew it for another 60 days.

Homeland security officials on Tuesday described contingency plans for managing as many as 18,000 encounters a day at the border, regardless of the cause. . .

The administration was caught somewhat flat-footed last September when thousands of migrants crossed the Rio Grande en masse into Del Rio, Texas, and were forced to crowd under a bridge for days until they could be processed by border officials. It is that kind of situation that officials are seeking to avoid.

Border crossings surged when Joe Biden took office, and nearly one million immigrants have been apprehended since October. Hundreds of thousands more evaded border authorities. 

New York Times: Since October, border officials have apprehended 900,000 undocumented migrants at the southwest border, the Homeland Security Department said on Tuesday. During the 2021 fiscal year, undocumented migrants were caught a record-breaking 1.7 million times. The number of illegal crossings went up significantly after President Biden took office compared with the previous year, when numbers were down. . .

Republicans plan to make the Biden Border Crisis a central campaign issue in this year’s midterm elections. They argue Biden’s dangerous policies threaten our national security and have made “every single city in America” a border town.

Bottom Line: Border officials warn Joe Biden’s immigration policies could make the situation at the southern border even more volatile and dangerous.