EAGLE PASS (NewsNation) — Migrant encounters at the southern border persist at record levels. This has led Congress to grapple with negotiating a deal, leading to visits by lawmakers.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., accompanied by 60 other Republican lawmakers, is scheduled to visit the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Wednesday.
Johnson, who recently penned a letter to President Joe Biden, urging executive action on the border crisis amid the December migrant surge. He’s proposing a reinstatement of former President Donald Trump’s hardline border policies such as “Remain in Mexico.”
“We are now more vulnerable to a terrorist attack on our homeland than ever,” Johnson wrote in the letter, adding that ending those policies has undermined America’s sovereignty and security.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection sources confirmed to NewsNation that in December, agents encountered more than 300,000 migrants — equivalent to the population of Cincinnati.
This surpassed the previous record set under the Biden administration when agents encountered more than 269,000 migrants in September 2023.
The Tucson, Arizona, sector led all sectors with more than 80,000 migrant encounters, witnessing a surge in migrants from African countries in areas like Lukeville and San Miguel.
The Del Rio sector, which includes Eagle Pass, registered more than 71,000 migrant encounters, most of which consisted of Venezuelans. The third was the San Diego sector, where agents encountered over 34,000 migrants and are witnessing a surge in Chinese nationals crossing illegally.
The ongoing border crisis is severely straining the immigration court system. Currently, fewer than 800 immigration judges are overseeing three million pending cases.