More than two million immigrants who entered the US illegally were arrested in the border area with Mexico during 2021, according to government statistics, a number that is a new record.
Of those, more than 180,000 were arrested in December, according to figures released Monday, bringing the total to the highest level ever recorded.
The Republican Party immediately accused Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris of creating a “historic humanitarian crisis.”
“Under their rule, cartels and traffickers are spreading, border guards are flooded and our communities are less secure,” said Rona McDaniel, a senior GOP executive, in a press release.
Migration flows, which had declined dramatically since the outbreak of the new coronavirus, began to increase again when Joe Biden came to power a year ago, before rising rapidly.
The White House resident had initially attempted to downplay the problem, citing a seasonal problem. But record summer arrivals, with some 200,000 arrests in July and August, when desert crossings are more dangerous, showed he was wrong.
Record arrivals pose a major humanitarian, logistical and financial challenge to the Democratic government, especially as it has pledged not to repatriate unaccompanied minors.
Efforts to push for immigration reform in the United States seem to be stuck in a quagmire in Congress, and the issue is expected to be one of the major stakes in the November midterm elections.
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