Border Crisis: Record-High Number Of Illegal Border Crossings Continued In May

Border officials apprehended over 172,000 migrants at the southern border in May, keeping pace with record highs set in March and April, according to preliminary data obtained by Axios Tuesday.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have apprehended more migrants from Cuba, Ecuador, Haiti and Venezuela, Axios reported. Officials encountered over 530,000 migrants between January and April, compared with just under 350,000 during the same period in 2019, according to the agency.

Border officials report the number of migrants apprehended during each encounter, though some of them have attempted illegal entry several times, Axios reported. Migrants rapidly expelled under the Trump-era public health order Title 42 implemented to stop the spread of COVID-19 are more likely to attempt illegal re-entry multiple times, according to Axios.

More than 50,000 migrants from countries other than Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras or El Salvador may have attempted to enter the U.S. in May, Axios reported. Less than 40,000 migrants from countries other than Mexico or the Northern Triangle region of Central America attempted to enter the U.S. in the fiscal year 2018.

Vice President Kamala Harris discouraged would-be migrants in Guatemala from traveling to the U.S. during a Monday press conference, the Daily Caller News Foundation reported.

“I want to be clear to folks in this region who are thinking about making that dangerous trek to the United States-Mexico border: do not come, do not come,” Harris said.

Over 90,000 migrants apprehended at the border during April were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras or El Salvador, while nearly 18,000 were from other countries, according to CBP.