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The Border Just Saw the Most Illegal Crossings Ever. Officials Say It Could Get Even Worse.

Venezuelan migrants stand near the Rio Bravo river, the border between the Mexico and the U.S., as they wait for the announcement about the end of Title 42 on December 21, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico December 17, 2022. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez
May 12, 2023

Border agents apprehended a record-breaking number of migrants in the last week, including multiple sex offenders, felons, and gang members. 

More than 67,700 apprehensions occurred along the border this week, not including at least 15,780 gotaways, Border Patrol chief Raul Ortiz said Friday. 

At least 10,000 migrants were apprehended by agents on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday—the highest daily numbers on record. 

The record numbers came ahead of Thursday night’s expiration of Title 42, which allowed agents to turn migrants away at the border. Now the Biden administration is allowing the mass release of migrants in the country.

"It will get worse," one Homeland Security official told CNN.

More than 1,400 Department of Homeland Security personnel and 1,500 Department of Defense workers are at the border assisting with processing migrants, Homeland Security decretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Wednesday.

Officials warned last week that 700,000 migrants were waiting in Mexico for the lapse of the border policy. Migrants will be processed and released into cities at bus stops, gas stations, and other places across the border.

Democratic leaders, like New York City mayor Eric Adams, are struggling to deal with the influx of migrants. Adams is pursuing a plan to ship busloads of migrants to the suburbs, and he waived a rule that requires the city to house anyone who needs shelter. Democrats in El Paso, Texas, are preparing to send the city more migrants. 

House Republicans passed an immigration bill Thursday that would limit migrants from seeking asylum and restart border wall construction, but Democrats in the Senate are expected to kill the bill.

"I would hope that Chuck Schumer does his damn job," Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R., Wis.) told the Free Beacon. "That Joe Biden does his damn job."