Data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revealed that over 2 million illegal immigrants were apprehended at the southern border in Fiscal Year 2023.
In Fiscal Year 2022, there were 2.2 million apprehensions at the southern border.
The data does not include the thousands of migrants seeking asylum who are processed at ports of entry.
DHS said in a statement that it is working to “strengthen consequences” against illegal immigrants, CBS News reported.
“We are clear eyed, however, that there is no long-term solution to the challenges we are seeing at our border that does not involve the U.S. Congress modernizing our hopelessly outdated immigration and asylum system,” DHS stated.
Reporting from The Post Millennial:
As CBS News reports, while some migrants are ordered to return to Mexico or face deportation, the majority are released into the interior under the condition that they agree to appear for immigration court proceedings. There is currently a 2 million case backlog in the US immigration court system, meaning many migrants will have been in the country for years before they actually take part in a hearing to determine their eligibility to stay.
