CBP reports June border numbers, pushing fiscal year 2021 encounters past 1.1 million

U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported encountering 188,829 people trying to enter along the nation's southwest border during the month of June, a figure that pushes fiscal year 2021 southwest land border encounters past the 1 million mark.

So far during the fiscal year, which began in October 2020, there have been 1,119,204 southwest land border encounters, according to CBP.

The numbers have increased every month this fiscal year with a dramatic spike occurring when the numbers rose from 78,442 in January, to 101,095 in February, to 173,265 in March.

The numbers have continued to increase in each subsequent month, rising to 178,850 in April, then to 180,641 in May, and now to 188,829 in June.

And with three months left in fiscal year 2021, the total southwest land border encounters have already surpassed the 458,088 figure for all of fiscal year 2020 and the 977,509 figure for all of fiscal year 2019.

CBP noted that due to some migrants trying to cross the U.S. border more than once, the number of unique individuals encountered is actually lower than the overall number of encounters.

"The large number of expulsions during the pandemic has contributed to a larger-than-usual number of migrants making multiple border crossing attempts, which means that total encounters somewhat overstate the number of unique individuals arriving at the border," according to a news release.

"Thirty-four percent of encounters in June 2021 were individuals who had at least one prior encounter in the previous 12 months, compared to an average one-year re-encounter rate of 14 percent for Fiscal Years 2014-2019. The number of unique new encounters in June 2021 was 123,838. The number of unique individuals encountered to date during the fiscal year is 454,944 compared to 489,760 during the same time period in 2019," the release noted.

CBP has carried out 9,500 rescues nationwide during fiscal year 2021 through the month of June, a figure which represents a whopping 81% increase compared to the amount of rescues during the entirety of fiscal year 2020, according to the agency.

"We are in the hottest part of the summer, and we are seeing a high number of distress calls to CBP from migrants abandoned in treacherous terrain by smugglers with no regard for human life," CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller said in a statement. "Although CBP does everything it can to locate and rescue individuals who are lost or distressed, the bottom line is this: the terrain along the border is extreme, the summer heat is severe, and the miles of desert migrants must hike after crossing the border in many areas are unforgiving."