Illegal immigration at the southern border ticked up again in November, continuing the Department of Homeland Security’s string of disastrous months and fueling Republicans’ calls for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Border Patrol agents nabbed more than 191,000 illegal immigrants in the Southwest, and Customs and Border Protection officers encountered 51,000 other unauthorized migrants who showed up demanding entry, many of them welcomed under one of President Biden’s “parole” programs promising quick “catch and release.”
Arrests in October totaled 188,778.
Among the Border Patrol arrests in November were 18 people whose names were on the terrorism watchlist. Through the first two months of fiscal 2024, agents have nabbed 30 terrorism suspects at the southern border, putting the country on pace to break the record of 169 set under Mr. Biden in the previous year.
Customs and Border Protection released the numbers Friday afternoon, ahead of the Christmas holiday weekend.
Republicans said that seemed to be an attempt to bury the bad news amid holiday cheer.
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green said it was “cowardly of Mr. Mayorkas.”
“These numbers are so bad, he wants as few Americans to see them as possible,” Mr. Green said. “And December’s numbers, which will be released in January, are anticipated to be even more grim.”
He said his committee will be “initiating impeachment proceedings against Secretary Mayorkas early in the new year.”
“This devastating and utter disaster for our country will no longer be tolerated,” he said.
Mr. Mayorkas survived a previous attempt at impeachment, brought by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in November, after eight Republicans joined Democrats in opposing it. The border crisis has contributed to stalling President Biden’s proposed military aid for Ukraine and Israel, as Senate Republicans have pushed the White House for tighter immigration policies.
The border situation is the chief argument Republicans give for impeachment, and the new numbers build on their case.
CBP said it detected an increase in fentanyl smuggled across the border in November, along with the terrorism suspects.
Meanwhile, the flow of unauthorized migrants continues to defy Mr. Mayorkas’ attempts to rein it in.
The number of illegal immigrants traveling as families ticked down, although it remains at an astronomical rate. The number of illegal immigrant juveniles traveling alone ticked up.
Republicans have called on Mr. Biden to take unilateral action to plug the border, but the White House has said there’s nothing more he can do.
“Look, the president has done everything that he can, right, on his own,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Thursday.
She also suggested the rise at the border is normal.
“We’re at a time of the year where we’re seeing more at the border, and it’s not unusual,” she said.
In fact, last month was the second-worst November on record for Border Patrol apprehensions, trailing only last year’s nearly 208,000.
Third place also belongs to Mr. Biden in 2021, with 167,000. Before him, the worst November was about 80,000 encounters in 1998.
The spokeswoman’s comments stand at odds with the view of Homeland Security security itself, where CBP’s acting commissioner, Troy Miller, said they are “facing a serious challenge along the southwest border.”
He said he needs more money from Congress.
Homeland Security said the impeachment effort is “wasting valuable time and taxpayer dollars pursuing a baseless political exercise that has been rejected by members of both parties and already failed on a bipartisan vote.”
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.