FAIR: Record Nationwide Encounters of Illegal Aliens in December Cap Off the Most Disastrous Year of Illegal Immigration in U.S. History

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement was released by Dan Stein, president of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), in response to today's release of CBP Nationwide Encounters of illegal aliens for the month of December:

December 2023 has the dubious distinction of being the worst month of illegal immigration in the nation's history. In December, total nationwide encounters reached a record 371,036, eclipsing the previous monthly record set in September by some 30,000. These record encounters were fueled in large part by the cartel-driven flows through Arizona points of entry such as Lukeville. In total, there were 302,034 encounters along the besieged Southern border. These alarming figures do not include hundreds of thousands of 'gotaways' who are known to have entered the country illegally, but were not apprehended by CBP.

"Even more alarming, the vast majority of the illegal aliens who are encountered are being released into the United States. Earlier this month, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who is facing impeachment by the House of Representatives, publicly acknowledged that more than 70 percent are released into the United States. Later, he privately admitted to Border Patrol agents that more than 85 percent of those encountered at the southern border are being released.

"Unless Congress acts decisively to remove Secretary Mayorkas from office and force the Biden administration to secure our borders, these unsustainable levels of illegal immigration will continue through 2024. The House of Representatives has already approved H.R. 2, the Secure the Border Act, but it is stalled in the Democratic-controlled Senate. The Republican-led House must insist that the bill be included either as part of the FY 2024 budget, or in the supplemental foreign aid package that President Biden has requested."

Contact: Joey Chester, [email protected], 202-742-1827

SOURCE Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR)