At least 73,000 illegal immigrants were spotted crossing into the US but able to evade Border Patrol agents in November — the highest number recorded at the US-Mexico border, according to Fox News.
Border Patrol use the term gotaways to describe immigrants who are spotted by motion sensor cameras or by border agents, but are able to avoid capture.
Since the fiscal year started on Oct. 1, there have already been 137,000 gotaways counted, sources told Fox’s sources.
In the recently ended 2022 fiscal year there were nearly 600,000 gotaways, up from 389,155 counted in the 2021 fiscal year.
In November Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas asked Chris Magnus, the head of US Customs and Border Protection, to step down, but he declined.
instead he issued a statement saying: “I am excited about the progress I made and look forward to continuing that work.”
Arecord 2.4 million migrants were stopped at the US border with Mexico in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 — a 37% surge from a year earlier.
At least 207,000 migrants were encountered by Border Patrol in the month of November — that number includes all who attempted entry, around 40% of whom are immediately denied passage into the US, many under Title 42, a pandemic-era public health restriction.
A federal court has ruled Title 42 must end by December 21, after which there is expected to be an even greater surge in migrants crossing over into the country.
However, Politico reported Magnus has been missing or sleeping through key meetings about how to deal with the on ongoing migration surge.
“He’s not in the game,” an administration official told the outlet.
“Every time there’s a meeting and he’s in it, we’ll get to a conclusion and Magnus will have some sidebar issue that he wants to raise and we’re all like, ‘What the f–k is that about?’”
US Customs and Border Protection data shows over the last two months El Paso, Texas, is the new busiest border crossing — with more than 53,000 immigrants entering the US in just one month.
El Paso’s shelters are bursting at the seams, leaving Border Patrol with no option but to release 1,200 immigrants onto the city’s streets in November. These individuals are asylum seekers who have been vetted by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, do not have criminal histories, and legally allowed to travel within the US.
Some of those immigrants are now sleeping in on the streets, either because they don’t have money to leave El Paso or are waiting for transportation, according to El Paso station KFOX-TV.
Despite the end of Title 42 in less than 20 days, the Biden administration has not annouced a new measure to replace it or a plan for what to do with the increased level of migration when it is lifted.