Burgeoning Border Crisis Spirals Out of Control, Officials Fear ‘Mass Migration Event’

In the midst of a record-breaking surge in illegal immigration along the U.S. Southern Border, immigration officials are warning that a “mass migration event” may soon take place.

Recently, you may not have heard very much news on the topic of immigration.

Between the Russian invasion in Ukraine, skyrocketing inflation, and the hustle and bustle of everyday life, it can be difficult to keep up with each and every story. Especially when the mainstream media wishes to keep certain news stories quiet.

But make no mistake. There is a crisis on our Southern Border. And its only getting worse.

Earlier this year, The Daily Citizen reported on the record-breaking number of illegal immigrants U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents apprehended along the U.S. Southern Border in 2021.

In FY 2021, the number of unaccompanied children (UC) encountered along the Southern Border increased by 73% compared to FY 2019. The total number increased from 80,634 UCs in FY 2019 to a striking 146,925 UC encounters in FY 2021.

Additionally, the number of single adults CBP encountered nearly tripled from 368,812 in FY 2019 to a staggering 1,105,925 in FY 2021.

But now, the number of CBP encounters of illegal immigrants in FY 2022 is set to easily surpass FY 2021.

CBP reports that so far, for the first five months of FY 2022, the number of land border encounters each month has far surpassed the first five months of FY 2021.

Here’s the breakdown comparing FY 2022 to FY 2021:

October: 164,841 in FY 2022 compared to 71,929 in FY 2021.
November: 174,870 in FY 2022 compared to 72,113 in FY 2021.
December: 179,256 in FY 2022 compared to 73,994 in FY 2021.
January: 154,745 in FY 2022 compared to 78,414 in FY 2021.
February: 164,973 in FY 2022 compared to 101,099 in FY 2021.

Border Encounter Numbers

Photo Credit: CBP

But that’s not all.

Officials expect the conditions on the Southern Border to worsen substantially over the next several months.

In February 2022, CBP encountered an average of 5,900 illegal immigrations each day.

But U.S. officials are currently preparing for a “worse-case scenario of up to 18,000 migrants being taken into custody each day.”

Of note, former President Barack Obama’s Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said in 2019 that any daily encounters over 1,000 “overwhelms the system.” And anything over 4,000 is a “crisis.”

Given that CBP is currently averaging 5,900 encounters a day, and may soon be encountering 18,000, what is the next level of severity above and beyond “crisis”?

The reason border officials are expecting the surge in illegal immigration to worsen is partly because of the administration’s decision to end its use of Title 42.

Title 42 is a clause of the 1944 Public Health Services law which “allows the government to prevent the introduction of individuals during certain public health emergencies,” according to Olga Byrne, immigration director at the International Rescue Committee.

The clause was utilized by the Trump Administration beginning in March 2020 when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) started to quickly expel migrants at the Southern Border.

And the government has so far kept the measure in place.

CBP reports that it used Title 42 to expel 802,638 illegal immigrations along the Southern Border in just the first five months of FY 2022.

As of March 2022, over 1.6 million illegal immigrants have been turned away under the policy.

However, the CDC announced on April 1 that it will do away with Title 42 on May 23.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said, in announcing the end of its use of Title 42, that “the cross-border spread of COVID-19 due to covered noncitizens does not present the serious danger to public health that it once did.”

Starting at the end of May, its likely more illegal immigrants will be incentivized to try and cross into the United States, and fewer will be quickly turned away.

Our Southern Border has been a mess for decades on end.

But as Focus on the Family President Jim Daly has called for, “We urge government officials to work together towards a humane and God-honoring solution that best preserves the integrity and sanctity of the family unit while also protecting our borders and assuring the safety of our citizens.”