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US customs agents saw a 33 per cent spike in encounters with illegal migrants along the border last month, to 221,803.
An official U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) report released Monday showed U.S. Border Patrol agents encounters rocketed a third from 164,973 in February.
The totals for March also marked the highest amount of interdictions under the administration of President Joe Biden since July 2021 when 213,593 interdictions were made.
And they come weeks before he plans to scrap Title 42 – a Trump-era law designed to immediately expel migrants to protect the US from COVID. That has sparked fears that up to 500,000 migrants a month could begin making the crossing from May.
Since October 1, 2001 – the start of fiscal year 2022 – border officers have recorded 1,060,954 incidents with migrants. CBP documented 164,847 interdictions in October; 174,846 in November; and closed out December with 179,252 incidents.
Encounters tailed off in January when 154,812 were reported before spiking up to 165,894 in February.
The current fiscal year totals are expected to surpass those of fiscal year 2021 when 1,734,686 interdictions were made.
U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered 187 migrants after they illegally crossed the border with Mexico near Eagle Pass, Texas, on March 27. A reported released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Monday revealed there were 221,303 encounters with migrants in all of March
At least 109,549 of the encounters in March were processed for expulsion under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Title 42,.
That 1944 public health law that was invoked in March 2020 by the former administration of President Donald Trump, arguing that migrants posed a threat to the country because of the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The measure is slated to be removed May 23, but CBP is still enforcing it although children who are stopped at the border without their parents or a legal guardian are exempt from removal.
At least 34,000 people were released under parole so that they can petition for asylum or legal residency through other avenues. They face deportation if their applications are rejected.
‘CBP continues to execute this Administration’s comprehensive strategy to safely, orderly, and humanely manage our borders,’ CBP commissioner Chris Magnus said in a statement.
‘CBP is surging personnel and resources to the border, increasing processing capacity, securing more ground and air transportation, and increasing medical supplies, food, water, and other resources to ensure a humane environment for those being processed.’
U.S. Border Patrol agents interdicted a group of 81 migrants on March 25 in Hidalgo, Texas
A five-year-old boy was traveling without his parents when U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered 83 people in Eagle Pass, Texas, after they had crossed from Mexico on March 16
Data also showed that of the 221,303 encounters, 28 percent involved individuals who had at least one interdiction in the last 12 months.
In all, CBP detained 159,900 first time crossers in March, a 37 percent increase compared with February, when 116,678 unique individuals were taken into custody.
‘The large number of expulsions during the pandemic has contributed to a higher-than-usual number of migrants making multiple border crossing attempts, which means that total encounters somewhat overstate the number of unique individuals arriving at the border,’ the agency said in a statement.
CBP also saw an 18 percent increase of encounters with unaccompanied children in March, with border agents logging 14,167 interdictions compared with 11,984 in February.
At least 582 minors were in CBP custody per day in March, in comparison with 520 in February.
A migrant boy was found alone at a boat ramp near the border with Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, on March 1