BORDER SECURITYGrowing Number of Migrants Highlights Border Crisis
U.S. officials processed an estimated 300,000 people at the U.S. border with Mexico in December, which would be the highest number ever recorded, according to multiple news organizations. While DHS will release the December numbers later this month, Reuters and other news organizations estimate that 300,000 people attempted to cross the border in the final month of 2023, with about 50,000 of them coming through designated points of entry.
U.S. officials processed an estimated 300,000 people at the U.S. border with Mexico in December, which would be the highest number ever recorded, according to multiple news organizations.
While the Department of Homeland Security will release the December numbers later this month, Reuters and other news organizations estimate that 300,000 people attempted to cross the border in the final month of 2023, with about 50,000 of them coming through designated points of entry.
Those estimates suggest that the first three months of fiscal 2024, which began in October, will set a record. Experts said multiple factors are causing migrants — many from as far away as Asia, Africa and the Middle East — to come to the U.S. border, either legally, as asylum-seekers, or illegally.
The record-level border encounters come as the U.S. enters a presidential election year in which the topic of immigration is expected to play a major role.
President Joe Biden, expected to receive the Democratic nomination, has repeatedly said that immigrants are one of the country’s strengths, even as he has taken steps to curb the current influx. Former President Donald Trump, the prohibitive favorite to win the Republican nomination, has long advocated for tighter control on immigration and has frequently used incendiary language to describe immigrants to the U.S.
‘Push’ and ‘Pull’ Factors
Michelle Mittelstadt, director of communications and public affairs for the Migration Policy Institute, told VOA that multiple factors have contributed to the elevated number of migrants at the southern border.
Mittelstadt said that many migrants arriving at the border have been “pushed” out of their own countries by economic and political upheaval, natural disasters, and other crises. For example, the collapse of the Venezuelan economy over the past decade has driven about 8 million people from that country. While many have found refuge in other South American countries, such as Colombia, hundreds of thousands have made the long and dangerous trek to the U.S.
Other factors contribute to “pull” migrants to the U.S., including the strength of the country’s economy, which currently has two open jobs for every American seeking work. Mittelstadt said that what she called the growing professionalization of human smuggling organizations has also made the gamble of migration seem more appealing, and that the possibility that Trump might be reelected in 2024 has encouraged many migrants to attempt to cross the border before stricter immigration measures can be put in place.
