What Do the Numbers at the Southern Border Say?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is the House Judiciary Committee hearing held Thursday at the southern border. The second hearing of the committee focused on the effects that the border crisis has on a local Arizona community. The site of the hearing was Yuma County, Arizona, about 150 miles southwest of Phoenix. Rep. Jefferson Van Drew (R-N.J.) gave the following explanation. 

It’s about time we told the truth. It’s about time we fix this problem.

And here’s the bottom line, it is fixable. We don’t have to have this happen. This was self-created by President [Joe] Biden, by Secretary [of Homeland Security] Alejandro Mayorkas, and this administration.

House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) opened the hearing. “It’s a shame that not one Democrat member of Congress would join us on this trip despite having weeks of advance notice.” The reason given by Ranking Member Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) for no Democrats attending the hearing at the border was that they considered the hearing to be a “stunt.” He also claimed that Republicans had not consulted with the Democrats on the committee.

The Republicans on the committee listened, took notes, and asked questions as the three witnesses discussed the surge of illegal aliens crossing the border and how they affect their community. The witnesses were Jonathan Lines (a Yuma County district supervisor), Yuma County Sheriff Leon Wilmot, and Dr. Robert Trenschel (president and CEO of the Yuma Regional Medical Center). The following numbers were discussed in the hearing.

·         “The numbers of encounters this January last month was more than a third higher than the last two Januaries of the Trump administration combined.” (Jordan)

·         There were 156,274 encounters of illegal migrants at the border in January. That number was 35,905 in January 2018 and 58,317 in January 2019. (CBP)

·         There were 2.3 million land encounters with migrants at the southern border in fiscal year 2022 (ending September 30). (CBP)

·         There were 870,000 total encounters between Oct. 1 and Jan. 31 (the first four months of fiscal year 2023). (CBP)

·         There were 14,000 pounds of fentanyl that were seized by CBP in fiscal year 2022, and more than 12,000 pounds seized between October and the end of January. (CBP)

·         Yuma Regional Medical Center is owed $26 million by the federal government for medical services provided to illegal immigrants. (Trenschel)

·         Migrant maternity patients are the most common type of patient at the Medical Center causing planned deliveries for members of the community to be rescheduled. (Trenschel)

There is a growing crisis at the southern border that was caused by Joe Biden when he ended successful border policies put in place by Donald Trump. There are somewhere between five million and seven million illegal immigrants who have entered the United States in the past two years.

Those numbers do not include the “got-aways” – illegal migrants who were seen by border agents but not processed. The numbers also do not include the numbers of unseen illegal immigrants who have crossed into the United States. The problem will continue to grow until the federal government decides to do its job to protect the sovereignty of the United States.