Last month, federal officials counted more than 250,000 encounters with migrants at the US-Mexico border, the largest monthly total ever recorded, according to a Friday night data dump by US Customs and Border Protection.
According to CBP data, the 251,487 unlawful entrance encounters at the southern border in December topped the 179,253 in December 2021 and the 73,997 in December 2020.
Even more migrants were seen than in May of 2022, when the number reached 241,136 at the start of the generally busy summer season.
Republicans, already incensed by the escalating migrant issue, were astounded.
“Breaking: Last month saw 251,487 illegal border crossings, the highest monthly total EVER recorded,” tweeted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Friday. “It’s no coincidence that Biden was sworn in today, two years ago.”
McCarthy argued that the president’s actions have “opened our border to more illegal crossings, more terrorism suspects, and more lethal fentanyl.”
Republicans complained about the “after dark” publication itself.
Rep. Mark Green (R-Tennessee), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, told Fox News, “another month, another effort by DHS to hinder transparency with the American people.”
“It is hardly surprising that we receive our most vital information from DHS on a Friday night. The Southwest border is a complete catastrophe.”
This month, Republicans submitted articles of impeachment against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas for failing to maintain control of the southern border.
In order to curb the spread of COVID-19, Title 42, a Trump-era provision that permits Border Patrol agents to return migrants to Mexico, was repealed in December, causing ambiguity.
As the program was supposed to expire last month, thousands of migrants began crossing the border, but the Supreme Court stayed the order.
The influx this month follows a fiscal year in which a record-breaking 2,4 million migrants crossed the border.
El Paso, Texas, which has seen an inflow of thousands of migrants over the past few weeks, has declared a state of emergency in response to the border issue.
»United States recorded 251,000 border stops in December, a record number«