Border Patrol numbers undermine Biden claims in Oval Office speech
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Experts disputed President Biden’s Wednesday claim that “border crossings are now lower than in the last days of the Trump Administration.”
Biden explained his decision to withdraw and argued for his legacy from the Oval Office. He claimed, among other things, that he had resolved the border chaos which ruled during his tenure.
Biden stated that border crossings were lower than they were when the previous administration was in office.
This claim is not supported by the latest data published monthly by Customs and Border Protection.
CBP reported that 130,419 illegal migrants were detected at the southern border during June. This is a far higher number than the 73.994 recorded in December 2020, which was the last month of the then-President Trump’s presidency. Both men shared January 2021 and it was lower, at 78 414.
The White House stated that Mr. Biden was not actually speaking about border crossings but rather a subset of those who came between the ports-of-entry and were apprehended.
The latest published figures still do not support Mr. Biden’s claim. In June, the Border Patrol apprehended 82,536 immigrants at the U.S./Mexico border, which is more than the 71.141 migrants in December 2020 or the 75.316 migrants in January 2021.
The White House cited as yet unpublished data which showed that the average seven-day arrest rate as of July 22, was less than 1,800 per day. This compares to 2,415 daily as of January 19, 2021.
Andrew R. “Art” Arthur, a former Immigration Judge and former head of the National Security Law Division at the Immigration and Naturalization Service said that Mr. Biden’s claim was too sweeping.
It does not include migrants that Mr. Biden “paroles” from the southern border into the United States, so long as they have scheduled their arrival in advance.
Mr. Arthur stated that the statement was “not correct in any way.” He probably meant Border Patrol apprehensions. But even under this metric, it would be technically correct, but factually misleading, because it does not include 1,450 foreigners with no visas and no rights to enter into the United States that are being ushered in by the Biden/Harris Administration through ports of entrance.
Addition of 1,450 per day to White House numbers would result in a daily total of more than 3,200 or more than 2,500 per day as recorded in January 2021.
Mr. Arthur stated that the border encounters do not tell the whole story, because they do not account for catch and release.
Officials said that in the final days under the Trump administration CBP detained or immediately removed more than 95% (2,500) of the undocumented migrants each day. Biden, on the other hand, released a majority in a given month.
He said, “We do not have a problem with New York City because 6,000 migrants were caught at the Southwest border.” “We have a big problem in New York City, because you are releasing 88.5% (of all the migrants) that you catch.”