The Biden administration announced Friday that December set a record with more than 302,000 migrant encounters at the southern border, part of a "staggering" and record-setting 371,036 overall encounters nationwide.
December marked the first time that migrant encounters at the southern border eclipsed 300,000, easily surpassing the old record of 269,700 set in September 2023. The previous mark of nationwide encounters was 341,392 set in August 2023.
"Secretary [Alejandro] Mayorkas has outdone himself yet again — never have we seen such catastrophic numbers, even with historically high encounter numbers on his watch," said House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., in a statement. "December's numbers serve as more undeniable proof that Secretary Mayorkas must be impeached."
Green plans to introduce articles of impeachment against Mayorkas on Tuesday.
"This staggering number of encounters at our borders only happens by design and a willful refusal to comply with the laws passed by Congress. The harsh reality is that this secretary has intentionally opened our borders, sending a clear message worldwide: entering this country illegally means release into the interior, with little to no chance of removal — and the world has responded accordingly," Green added.
"This is intentional, and it is a disaster."
Border Patrol made 251,222 arrests nationwide in December, including 249,785 from Mexico and 1,178 from Canada.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection senior official Troy Miller said in a statement released Friday: "CBP continues to use all available resources to ensure the safety and security of our agents and officers, and the migrants who are often misled and victimized by the transnational criminal organizations. But as we have repeatedly said, CBP and our federal partners need additional support from Congress so that we can continue to effectuate consequences for those who do not use established lawful pathways."
CPB said there was a 50% decrease in migrant encounters in the first two weeks of January but said that was consistent with "historical trends."
The Friday news release by the White House of the report comes amid President Joe Biden's standoff with Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has taken border security matters into his own hands.
While the administration was buoyed by a Supreme Court ruling Monday allowing federal agents to remove razor wire deployed by Texas, the ruling said nothing of Abbott's directives to keep adding more wire and other border barriers.
"All we can do is be prepared as possible, deploy as many people as possible, do as much as possible to put up more border barriers and deny illegal entry," Abbott said Friday.