US border guards catch record number of illegal migrants attempting to cross Mexico border

The US Department of Homeland Security announced on Thursday that border guards have caught a record number of migrants attempting to illegally cross the Mexico border in July, with more than 200,000 individuals stopped.

Speaking at a press conference in Texas, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned that the United States has faced “an unprecedented number of migrants” seeking to illegally enter the country through its southern border.

US Customs and Border Protection data showed that officials caught more than 200,000 illegal migrants during July, continuing the surge in individuals seeking refuge in America that began in 2020 and has grown since President Joe Biden took office.

The rise in attempted border crossings was particularly stark in unaccompanied children, with that demographic seeing a 24% increase in July, compared with the previous month.

“The situation at the border is one of the toughest challenges we face,” Mayorkas declared, adding that “it is complicated, changing and involves vulnerable people at a time of a global pandemic.”

The recent rise in the number of migrants attempting to illegally enter the US marks a deviation from previous years, with high heat during the summer months traditionally deterring individuals from making the journey to cross over the border.

The confirmation of the high level of attempted border crossings in July comes after a former US official warned that the Biden administration has placed at least 40,000 illegal immigrants who are infected with Covid into cities across America. Mark Morgan, who served as a border official under Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, called the estimate “conservative,” having previously put the number of illegal aliens released into the country since Biden took office at 270,000.

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