Record High Unauthorized Border Crossings Reported in December 2022
AllSides Summary
Unauthorized migrant encounters hit a record high at the southern border in December 2022.
The Details: Authorities reported around 250,000 total encounters, of which approximately 216,000 were unique encounters. The number is a 7% increase in total encounters from November 2022, 40% from December 2021, and 240% from December 2020. A surge in Nicaraguan and Cuban arrivals accounted for the highest number of arrivals since May 2022.
For Context: The Biden Administration has been under intense scrutiny for its handling of the situation at the border, and President Joe Biden made his first border visit as president on Jan. 8th. The increasing amount of encounters comes amid the administration’s fight to scrap the Trump and pandemic-era Title 42, which allows the U.S. government to expel unauthorized migrants and asylum seekers. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the surge in Nicaraguan and Cuban arrivals can be at least partially attributed to migrants fleeing their own presidential administrations’ policies.
How The Media Covered It: Across the spectrum, outlets reported the CBP statistics similarly, and highlighted how CBP says the surge shows "new border enforcement measures are working." Center- and left-rated sources generally focused more on the CBP’s statements regarding the border crisis. Some right-rated outlets, such as the Daily Caller, tended to place more emphasis on statements from Republican officials.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Right
‘Catastrophic’: Former Trump Officials Shred Biden Admin Over Record-Setting Migrant Encounters
As migrant encounters for December break all records, former Trump administration officials say the Biden administration is solely to blame.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed that authorities encountered more than 250,000 migrants at the southern border in December, as previously reported by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The number shows the staggering results of the Biden administration’s immigration policies, according to three Trump administration officials who spoke with the DCNF.
“What’s been happening at the border the last two years continues to be a catastrophic crisis, and the White House, Secretary Mayorkas, and...
From the Center
Border crisis keeps growing as more than 200,000 migrants illegally crossed in December
Authorities encountered 216,162 migrants at the southwest land border in December of last year, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
That figures marks an 11 percent increase in unique encounters from November of the same year. The federal agency attributed the surge to influx of Cuban and Nicaraguan individuals fleeing authoritarian regimes in those countries.
Cubans and Nicaraguans accounted for 77,043 of those encounters, roughly 36 percent of the total.
"[W]e are continuing to see a shifting migration pattern, with individuals from Mexico and northern Central America accounting for...
From the Left
Illegal border crossings in December surged to highest of Biden's presidency
A surge in Cuban and Nicaraguan arrivals at the U.S. border with Mexico in December led to the highest number of illegal border crossings recorded during any month of Joe Biden’s presidency, authorities said Friday.
The extraordinary influx came shortly before Biden introduced measures on Jan. 5 to deter Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.
U.S. authorities stopped migrants 251,487 times along the Mexican border in December, up 7% from 234,896 times in November and up 40% from 179,253 times in December 2021, Customs and Border Protection said.
Cubans were stopped...
AllSides Picks
March 27th, 2023
March 27th, 2023
Discuss & Debate immigration
Watch Dialogue Lab: America, A Social Experiment
April 07 at 10pm PT / 1am ETMore News about Immigration from the Left, Center and Right
From the Left
From the Center
From the Right
