EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — The “spring surge” for migrant encounters at the southern border is upon us, sources say.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection sources told NewsNation correspondent Ali Bradley this week that Border Patrol agents encountered 140,709 people crossing the border illegally between ports of entry in February, exceeding the 124,220 in January but remaining well below the record high of 249,735 in December.
Altogether, Border Patrol and CBP Field Operations encounters at ports of entry were shy of 190,000, making it the busiest February on record. According to CBP data, the total number of encounters on the Southwestern border was 156,630 last February; 166,010 in February 2022; and 101,099 in February 2021.
The majority of those encounters — 60.2 % — are single adult males. Below is a break-down of encounters during February by sector:
Tucson: 49,474
San Diego: 31,570
El Paso: 23,931
Del Rio: 14,110
Rio Grande Valley: 11,952
Yuma: 4,963
Laredo: 2,930
El Centro: 1,211
Big Bend: 568
The Tucson Sector, which recorded 49,747 encounters in February, continues to lead all sectors in migrant encounters. The Border Patrol alone encountered 50,565 migrants in January in the Tucson Sector. The number shot up from 64,637 in November to 80,184 in December.
CBP sources also tell NewsNation that March has gotten off to a busy start, with three of four consecutive days of more than 7,000 encounters. The number was up to about 5,500 on Monday.
Sources call it a “spring surge” just days after President Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump visited the border on Thursday. CPB said that on that day, there were over 7,000 encounters at the border.
Biden reportedly is considering executive action to deal with migration at the border after Republican lawmakers rejected a negotiated border bill but didn’t announce any executive actions when he visited the Texas border city of Brownsville.
According to the Associated Press, some of Biden’s options are similar to measures in the border bill, including a ban on asylum processing when illegal border crossings hit a certain number.
The 7,000 encounters seen in recent consecutive days far exceed that threshold. Under the Senate border deal, an average of 5,000 daily encounters during a five-day period would trigger expulsions.
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