Border Patrol Reports Of Almost 1,000 Daily 'Got Aways' Is The Highest In Years

The number of immigrants crossing the border that officials are forced to give up on pursuing has spiked recently, with previous spike numbers becoming the daily norm.

Attrition-style tactics from smugglers and short-sighted enforcement tactics have exacerbated numbers, with experts suggesting 2021 could be a two-decade high, The Washington Post reports.

Customs and Border Patrol agents logged almost 1000 daily “got aways” recently, a number that back in February constituted an unusual day according to Border Patrol Deputy Chief Raul Ortiz.

Technological developments might be contributing to that number: Heavy investment into surveillance along the border is good at logging every immigrant but bad at identifying individuals, which can lead to immigrants being counted twice.

Border patrol has also been making liberal use of Title 42 since the start of the pandemic, a public health measure that allows for immediate deportation. That means, however, that individuals are free to try and cross the border as much as they want without being detained on federal charges.

Smugglers have also been using tactics that stretch the limited resources of border agents, sending large numbers of small groups through isolated terrain. Occasionally they will gather a large group of migrants to occupy law enforcement while more important products like drugs or personnel slip through.

“There are maybe 20 groups a day that are observed, but there’s nobody to try to go after them,” an agent told The Washington Post. “They just keep walking until they’re out of sight.”

Rodolfo Karisch, former chief of border control in Tucson and Rio Grande Valley sectors, called the spike a “recipe for disaster” for potential migrants.

“Smugglers tell them to walk north a few miles, but it’s a lie, and that’s how people die in the desert,” he said.

Even if they are apprehended, record numbers of arrested immigrants are stretching holding facilities to the brink. Rates of unaccompanied minors have resulted in dismal conditions and wait times far longer than the legal limit of 72 hours.