Migrant arrivals at the United States’ border with Mexico increased further in June despite the intense heat that made their journey more dangerous, according to official statistics released on Friday.
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About 188,800 migrants were arrested last month after illegally crossing the southern border of the United States, up 5% from May, customs and border guards (CBP) said in a statement.
This represents an unprecedented level since at least 2006 and brings the number of arrests to around 900,000 since January.
Democratic President Joe Biden, accused by Republicans of downplaying “the crisis”, had nevertheless estimated that the record levels recorded in March were seasonal.
“Every year, there is a significant increase in arrivals at the border in winter” because migrants “are less likely to die from the heat in the desert”, he then assured.
The arrival of summer, and its unbearable temperatures, has not however changed the trend, which worries border guards.
“We are in the hottest period of summer and we are receiving many calls for help from migrants abandoned in dangerous areas by smugglers who have no respect for human life,” said their leader Troy Miller in a press release.
The majority of arrests made in June still concern adults traveling alone (117,600), followed by migrants arriving with their families (56,000).
Among these arrivals are also many unaccompanied minors (15,253) even if their number has fallen slightly since the historic record recorded in March (18,890).
Migration flows had decreased markedly during the pandemic and began to recover slightly in 2020, before surging since the arrival at the White House of Joe Biden. Republicans accuse him of causing a “draft” by relaxing the migration policies of his predecessor Donald Trump.
The United States, however, continues to automatically deport all single adults and a large part of families, under a rule adopted to counter the spread of Covid-19.
Returned to Mexico, many migrants try again the adventure: among the 188,000 people arrested in June, more than a third had already been arrested at least once in the last twelve months, according to the CBP.
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