A record number: 302,000 migrants were intercepted crossing the southern border in December – nineteen of them on the FBI’s terrorist watch list.
The shocking figure was shared with ABC News on Friday and is the highest ever recorded. A source who shared the figure said the number is preliminary and could change.
They will deal another blow to President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign as he struggles to tackle the crisis, consistently ranked as one of voters’ top concerns.
Friday’s preliminary numbers were released as Texas National Guard soldiers continued to fortify the border with razor wire in defiance of the Biden administration’s ban on doing so — also including GOP South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem got involved.
On Friday, troops were seen loading excess wire into a truck at the border crossing at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass.
It comes just days after the SCOTUS ruled against Republican Governor Greg Abbott, saying the Biden administration could remove the barriers.
Federal government officials say the wire fences endanger security and hinder rescue efforts, while the state says it stems the flow of migrants.
Appearing at Eagle Pass earlier on Friday, South Dakota Governor Kristi called out President Biden for refusing to defend the country “from invasion.” She also called the area a “war zone.”
Earlier on Friday, Customs and Border Protection reported 302,034 encounters with migrants in December – the highest month on record.
On Friday, soldiers were seen loading excess wire into a truck at the border crossing at Shelby Park in Eagle Pass
Texas National Guard soldiers wait near the boat ramp where law enforcement enters the Rio Grande in Shelby Park on January 26, 2024
South Dakota Governor Kristi appeared at Eagle Pass earlier Friday and called out President Biden for refusing to defend the country ‘against invasion’
CBP also reported that 19 people on the FBI’s terror watchlist were arrested in December, bringing the total to date to 50 arrests for fiscal year 2024.
Speaking to Fox News, Noem told the newspaper: “I am incredibly proud of Texas and the actions they are taking.
‘They are protecting their state sovereignty. This is Texas country. Shelby Park belongs to the state of Texas.
“It’s part of the United States of America and the president refuses to defend it from invasion.
“Today was the deadline President Biden gave Texas to begin cutting the razor wire. None of that happened here today.
“As Governor of South Dakota, I see the consequences of Joe Biden ignoring federal law and allowing this invasion in my home state every day.
“The trafficking of human beings and drugs that cross this border come into my state through my travel reservations and devastate my people.
“I’m proud to be here working with the governor and his people to keep America safe.”
Noem and Abbott have both been touted as future presidential candidates — with Noem a possible vice presidential candidate later this year.
Noem had issued a press release on Thursday explaining her decision to travel to “the war zone.”
It said: ‘This is about our Constitution. This is about us standing united. “I’m going to be at the border tomorrow to tell the Texas National Guard that not only are we with them, but we have stayed with them for the last several years.”
Noem had issued a press release on Thursday explaining her decision to travel to “the war zone.”
An aerial view shows the Texas National Guard staging area for military equipment and soldiers at Shelby Park on Jan. 26, 2024, in Eagle Pass
National Guard soldiers load excess concertina wire onto a trailer after Governor Greg Abbott ordered them to defy a Supreme Court ruling
Military vehicles are stationed near shipping containers blocking all access to the Rio Grande riverbank
Noem has also pledged to help send South Dakota National Guard troops to the border after sending 50 troops last summer.
The Biden administration is in a standoff with Texas over 30 miles of sharp concertina wire around Eagle Pass along the Rio Grande on the southern border.
Border guards have been seen cutting the wire as they conduct rescue efforts in the border area, where three migrants have drowned in the past month.
The governor of the Lone Star State responded to the ruling during a trip to India by promising that the legal battle was far from over.
“The Biden administration has repeatedly cut the wire Texas had installed to stop illegal crossings, opening the floodgates to illegal immigrants,” Abbott spokesman Andrew Mahaleris told DailyMail.com.
“The absence of razor wire and other deterrent strategies encourages migrants to make unsafe and illegal crossings between ports of entry, while making the jobs of Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers more dangerous and difficult.”
Governor Abbott ordered the installation of miles of concertina wire in multiple areas of the Texas-Mexico border known as high-traffic areas for migrants entering the US.
Miles and several layers of wire are located in many cities and regions of the Texas-Mexico border – a border that is 1,254 miles long
The federal government claims the wire fences endanger security and hinder rescue efforts, while the state says it will stem the flow of migrants
The White House applauded SCOTUS’ decision, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre saying she was “pleased” that border officials can now “do their job.”
The fencing at issue in dispute was installed by the Texas National Guard on private property along the Rio Grande River as part of what was called Operation Lone Star, launched by Governor Abbott in 2021 to deter illegal border crossings.
Texas sued the government in October 2023 over what it said was an intensified practice by Border Patrol agents to cut, destroy or otherwise damage fencing that the state had strategically placed on private property with landowners’ permission.
Abbott ordered the installation of miles of concertina wire in multiple areas of the Texas-Mexico border known as high-traffic areas for migrants entering the US.
Many of these migrants are asylum seekers who try to sneak into the country unnoticed.
Concertina wire forms the path as members of Congress tour an area near the Texas-Mexico border, January 3, 2024
After crossing the border illegally, they seek out U.S. Border Patrol agents so they can surrender to them and seek asylum.
Miles and several layers of wire are located in many cities and regions of the Texas-Mexico border – a border that is 1,254 miles long.
On orders from Republican Governor Greg Abbott, Texas soldiers on January 10 surrounded Shelby Park with razor wire and other fencing, even though the land is owned by the City of Eagle Pass.
Abbott claimed the measure was intended to stem the historic number of illegal immigrants in Shelby Park in recent weeks.
The week before Christmas, more than 22,000 asylum-seeking migrants crossed the river that divides the U.S. from Mexico into Shelby Park to enter Eagle Pass, which has a population of just 28,000.
The influx strained resources and cost local taxpayers thousands of dollars a day.
Many of Abbott’s Operation Lone Star initiatives, launched in March 2021, have been controversial and have placed the Republican governor and White House over jurisdiction.
Abbott has also placed buoys in the Rio Grande as a deterrent, but these are also embroiled in a legal battle.