migration
Almost 200,000 migrants captured on the US southern border in September
US border guards speak to a Haitian migrant who entered the US from Ciudad Acuna, Mexico. (Archive image) Photo: Nick Wagner / XinHua / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
After August, the number of illegal border crossings from Mexico to the USA fell again. In historical comparison, however, the number of people apprehended has been very high for months.
Around 192,000 migrants were caught attempting to illegally cross the border on the US southern border with Mexico in September. That represents a decrease of nine percent compared to August, as the border police CBP announced on Friday.
In September of the previous year there were only just under 58,000 migrants. In historical comparison, the number of people apprehended has been very high for months. In July, for example, it had risen to around 213,000 people, the highest level in a good 20 years.
In the entire US fiscal year 2021, from October 2020 to the end of September, 1.73 million people were apprehended, according to the CBP data. That was an all-time high. In the same period last year there were only 458,000.
Most migrants are currently being deported immediately by the US authorities. Many then try their luck again. Border police said about a quarter of all migrants apprehended in September were repeat offenders who had been caught at least once in the previous 12 months.
The number of captured unaccompanied children and minors decreased by 24 percent to around 14,400 in September compared to the previous month, it said.
President Joe Biden’s administration is under increasing pressure because of the large number of migrants and refugees arriving on the southern border. Republicans accuse Democrat Biden of causing a crisis on the border with his more liberal migration policies.