Immigration

Illegal Crossings At Northern Border Have Spiked Over 1,000% Under Biden

The Biden administration has overseen an enormous increase of illegal migrant crossings along the U.S.-Canada border over the past four years.

There have so far been 12,859 illegal migrant crossings along the northern border in fiscal year 2024, with several months still left to go, according to the latest data provided by Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Despite only eight months of data available, the number of illegal border crossings this fiscal year have already surpassed all other years of President Joe Biden’s tenure, and represent a marked increase from his first year in office. 

In fiscal year 2021, the first year of the Biden administration, Border Patrol reported 916 northern land border encounters, the CBP data show. That number rose to 2,238 in fiscal year 2022, 10,021 in fiscal year 2023 and now 12,859 for the first eight months of this current fiscal year.

The climb from 916 illegal crossings in fiscal year 2021 to 12,859 illegal crossings this fiscal year marks a 1,303% increase over Biden’s time in office so far.

Illegal border crossings are the number of encounters reported by Border Patrol between ports of entry, as opposed to total border encounters that also incorporate the number of inadmissible foreign nationals encountered at ports of entry.

The uptick in northern border crossings come as the Biden administration has overseen a recent drop in the number of illegal immigrants appearing at the southern border. Border Patrol agents reported 170,723 illegal migrant crossings in May, marking the third consecutive month of decline at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to CBP data.

Biden has been battling an ongoing southern border crisis since he entered office and enacted a slate of executive orders that undid many of former President Donald Trump’s border enforcement policies, such as border wall construction and implementation of the Remain in Mexico policy. The president has since announced an executive order that seeks to cap the number of daily asylum seekers at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The border crisis has taken a toll on the president, with a recent survey indicating that less than 30% of Americans approve of his handling on immigration.

Featured image credit:  (DHS photo by Tia Dufour)