The number of migrants arrested at the southern border in the 2021 fiscal year is the highest since 1986, new Customs and Border Protection data shows.
The data, which is still unpublished but was obtained by The Washington Post, shows that border authorities detained more than 1.7 million migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border between October 2020 through September 2021.
The data is expected to be released publicly late this week.
Illegal crossings began skyrocketing in the months after President Joe Biden was inaugurated – and while the administration initially tried to blame Trump's policies for the increase, migrants have repeatedly said they made the trek to the U.S. with the belief the new administration would allow them to stay.
Another pull, migrants said, was the labor shortages in the U.S. exhibiting to them a need for workers.
In another dismissal of the growing crisis, Biden described the rise in spring 2021 as consistent with seasonal norms. That, however, did not remain true as the highest-levels of illegal crossings came during the hottest months of the year, July and August.
More than 200,000 migrants were taken into CBP custody each month.
Biden's team has continued to dismiss the crisis at the southern border, refusing to call it just that – a crisis – even as humanitarian issues emerged with overflowing holding and processing centers that reportedly served undercooked or spoiled food to unaccompanied minor migrants, as well as limited outdoor time and shower use.
In fiscal year 2021, more than 1.7 million migrants were taken into U.S. custody, new numbers being released later this week reveal. Here a group of migrants are process by immigration officials after crossing illegally from Mexico into Roma, Texas on September 30
The total encounters in FY 2021 are the highest since 1986 and far surpass any migration numbers in the surge during Donald Trump's presidency
Haitian migrants wait on Tuesday to board a boat that will take them to Colombia as they trek from South America to the U.S. – in a sign the migration crisis will not cease any time soon
During the 2020 campaign, Biden promised to make the U.S. more welcoming to immigrants, following four years of Donald Trump's zero-tolerance policies.
But after being elected and during the transition, Biden said he wanted to move more cautiously to avoid ending up 'with 2 million people on our border.'
Immediately after being sworn in, Biden halted border wall construction, ended the so-called 'Remain in Mexico' policy, reversed asylum restrictions and announced a 100-day pause on most deportations.
During a Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, Biden's pick to head CBP, Chris Magnus, repeatedly would not call the situation at the border a 'crisis.'
He admitted that 'the numbers are very high' and called the growing crisis a 'big problem' that requires 'urgency.'
During the hearing Tuesday, Republican Senator Todd Young said to Magnus: 'I'd like to start off with a yes or no question. Do you believe we have a crisis at the southern border – yes or no?'
'I'm not sure – does it really matter whether we call it a major challenge, a crisis, a big problem?' Magnus countered.
'I think it speaks to a level of urgency and seriousness of purpose and understanding of the gravity of the situation,' the Indiana senator pushed back. 'Presumably one would answer the call to serve in this position because you understand the importance at this moment in history of being commissioner of CBP.'
Young then reiterated his question: 'So, do we have a crisis at the border – yes or no?'
'Let me assure you that no one believes
