10.1 Million Border Encounters Under Biden-Harris, Says House Committee
- August 22, 2024
A factsheet report released by the House Committee on Homeland Security Republicans this week highlighted the more than 170,000 nationwide migrant encounters in July. According to the committee factsheet released on Wednesday, the total of nationwide encounters under the Biden-Harris administration climbed to 10.1 million. That total did not include the roughly two million known got-aways recorded by CBP since the start of fiscal year 2021.
In a statement released with the factsheet, the Committee Republicans criticized the current administration’s use of humanitarian parole authority to admit migrants at ports of entry — referring to the practice as a “massive parole shell game.” The statement indicates the number of paroled migrants that form part of the 10.1 million encounters recorded by CBP since Fiscal Year 2021 are admitted in this manner to improve border optics, saying, “This spares Biden and Harris the damaging optics of overcrowded Border Patrol facilities and overwhelmed agents, but the result is the same, hundreds of thousands of inadmissible aliens being released into the interior”.
Biden-Harris Allow 10 Million Migrants into US
According to the fact sheet, more than 1.2 million migrants have been granted entry into the United States at ports of entry through the CBP One application and the Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan (CHVN) humanitarian parole program since January 2023. None of the applicants are required to participate in and pass a credible fear interview before an asylum officer, the first hurdle to a successful asylum claim.
The CHVN program was suspended after the DHS Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate (FDNS) uncovered fraud in the sponsorship process. The report noted addresses and zip codes used that did not exist, multiple applications from single sponsors, and, in some cases, sponsors that were not living. The program remains paused at present. However, the CBP One program at land ports of entry remains in effect.
The report is critical of the Biden-Harris administration’s catch-and-release policies, blaming the practice for crimes committed against United States citizens. “The same disastrous catch-and-release policies that let the killers of Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, and Jocelyn Nungaray loose into the country are also still in use by this administration.”
The report highlights the case of Jorge Chacon-Gutierrez, a migrant released into the United States after being apprehended by the Border Patrol in Eagle Pass in November 2023. Chacon shot a San Antonio police officer in July after police responded to his residence concerning a domestic violence call. Chacon died in the altercation, and the female police officer shot by Chacon was severely injured but survived.
The report noted more than 1,000 known members of the Venezuelan gang Tren De Aragua are suspected by DHS to currently be in the United States and pose a threat to the public and law enforcement entities.
Other Key facts in the report include:
- More than 8.2 million migrants apprehended at Southwest border FY 21-Present.
- Nationwide border encounters by Office of Field Operations (OFO) at ports of entry surpassed 100,000 for the 15th month in a row.
- Since January 2023, 765,000 migrants have scheduled appointments using the CBP One app and been released into the United States.
- 520,000 Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans have been paroled into the United States under the administration’s CHNV parole program at ports of entry.
- 378 migrants on the terrorist watch list have been apprehended between ports of entry at the Southwest border since FY21.
Since October, CBP, including the Border Patrol, issued a Notice to Appear (NTA) to more than 1.2 million inadmissible aliens and released them into the United States.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.