FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FACTSHEET: Encounters at Southwest Border on the Rise Again as Mayorkas Set to Testify on Inadequate FY24 Border Security Budget 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The day Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is set to testify before the Homeland Security Committee, the latest monthly encounters data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shows the startling truth that despite this administration’s numerous efforts to hide the extent of the crisis at our borders, the chaos is clearly only getting worse due to this administration’s refusal to enforce our nation’s laws.

Today, the House Committee on Homeland Security released the latest edition of the “Startling Stats” factsheet for March 2023, highlighting how the crisis at our nation’s borders continues to worsen due to Secretary Mayorkas’ incompetence and the Biden administration’s dangerous open-border policies, and illustrating the toll this crisis is taking on our overwhelmed Border Patrol agents and border communities. This worrisome CBP data comes less than one month before the possible end of Title 42, which will cause a worsening influx of migrant encounters that the Biden administration is ill-equipped to address.

The numbers do not lie. In March, encounters of migrants, known or suspected terrorists, and gang members at our Southwest border were all on the rise compared to the previous month, even as this administration continues to mislead Congress about the operational control and security of our borders. As for the crisis that has metastasized to our Northern border, yet another suspected terrorist attempted to cross between ports of entry in March, and encounters at the Swanton Sector are only worsening despite the Biden administration’s last-minute and overdue shift of resources to the U.S.-Canada border.

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