WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, issued the following statement after U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released operational statistics for July 2021 regarding the crisis at our southern border:
“I am concerned that month after month the CBP operational statistics show that we are seeing the worst unlawful migration crisis in more than twenty years. CBP reported more than 212,000 total encounters at the border in July, an increase from last month’s record of the highest amount in more than two decades. This includes more than 82,000 migrant family members, a 49 percent increase from just last month; more than 110,000 single adult migrants, three times more than last year; and nearly 19,000 unaccompanied children.
“At a time when we are hitting a new 21 year high in unlawful migrants, we should not be seeing a 58 percent decrease in Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s unlawful migrant arrests and removals. What signal does the Biden administration think that sends to the traffickers, the human smugglers, and the potential unlawful migrants when there’s such a dramatic decrease in internal enforcement? As I told Secretary Mayorkas at the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing late last month, what the Biden administration is doing at the border is not working and they must change course. I urge the Biden administration to take action to address this crisis which is a direct result of its decision to dismantle the previous administration’s policies with no consideration of the historic influx it would incite.”
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