Thursday, October 3, 2024

Immigration, By the Numbers

Immigration, By the Numbers

by John Hinderaker in Biden AdministrationIllegal immigrationImmigrationKamala Harris

It is no coincidence that, in last night’s debate, immigration was the issue on which the moderators intervened to try to stop the Democratic Party’s bleeding. The Biden/Harris administration’s immigration policies have been disastrous, unless they are actually trying to destroy our country. In which case they make perfect sense.

My colleague David Zimmer recaps the Biden/Harris debacle by the numbers. There is more at the link; here are some highlights:

According to the federal government’s own data, there have been nearly 11 million illegal border crossing encounters (2.675 million/year) between 2021 and 2024. By comparison, there were just over 3 million illegal border crossing encounters between 2017-2020 (750k/year).

In addition, border patrol agents have recorded an estimated 2 million “known gotaways” (defined as observed crossing into the US, but not apprehended) since 2021.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform estimates the current illegal immigrant population in the U.S. at 16.8 million, costing U.S. taxpayers an estimated $150 billion annually.

It is hard to say what the Democrats’ position on immigration is. In last night’s debate, it seemed at times that Tim Walz was trying to defend the Harris administration as tough on illegal immigration. But the numbers speak for themselves.

The sheer numbers are horrific, but the composition of the illegal immigrant cohort is, to say the least, concerning:

During encounters in 2023 and 2024, predominantly at our southern border, agents seized nearly 22,000 firearms and 111 explosive devices. 84 illegal migrants were wearing body armor at the time of their encounter.

On a “typical day” in 2023, border patrol agents arrested 44 wanted fugitives attempting to cross our border, and seized over 2,300 lbs. of drugs, including 78 lbs. of deadly fentanyl — DAILY.

375 terrorist watch list apprehensions have taken place on our borders between 2021-2024. That represents a 3000% increase in the number of apprehensions of those on the terrorist watch list between 2017-2020.

Lately quite a bit of attention has focused on the number of known criminals who are entering our country:

Agents have arrested 69,777 non-citizens with criminal convictions attempting to enter the U.S. in the past four years. By comparison, just 21,936 non-citizens with criminal convictions were intercepted and arrested at our borders between 2017-2020. This represents a staggering 144% increase in convicted criminals attempting to cross the border. Of course that’s only those who were intercepted.

And many of those were convicted of violent crimes:

* 178 convicted murderers were arrested at our border, up 1518% from the 11 who tried to enter between 2017-2020.

* 4,565 people convicted of assault were arrested at our border, up 165% from the 1,723 who tried to enter between 2017-2020.

* 1,339 convicted sex offenders were arrested at our border, up 210% from the 431 who tried to enter between 2017-2020.

* 1,161 convicted weapon offenders were arrested at our border, up 195% from the 394 who tried to enter between 2017-2020.

* 7,846 convicted drug offenders were arrested at our border, up 165% from the 2,955 who tried to enter between 2017-2020.

And of course, those are just the ones who happened to be caught.

As stated above, lots more at the link. The bottom line is that on immigration, the Biden/Harris administration has been an utter catastrophe. Apart from any other issue, their immigration follies justify, in fact demand, a new administration. David sums up:

The policy decisions were intentional, the results have been predictable, and the situation placed at the feet of the American public is abhorrent and inexcusable.

 https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2024/10/immigration-by-the-numbers.php

No comments:

Post a Comment