FAIR President Dan Stein has responded to the Department of Homeland Security's release of border encounter statistics for August, calling the situation a "disaster." Stein, who is the President of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), expressed concern over what he described as "record-breaking" figures and criticized the Biden administration for its handling of the border crisis.
"All it takes is a quick glance at the numbers to understand why they were trying so hard to hide the harsh reality from the American public," said Stein.
In his statement, Stein highlighted the alarming figures. "With still another month of data to be recorded for the fiscal year, total encounters, 2,860,127, have already eclipsed last year's totals and are on pace to exceed 3 million encounters, not including hundreds of thousands of 'gotaways,'" he noted.
Stein pointed out that there were 304,162 border encounters in August, the highest monthly number ever recorded. Of these, 232,972 occurred at the southwest border, representing a significant increase of 50,000 compared to July. Family unit encounters reached 116,721, the highest in four years, while the number of unaccompanied minors rose to 14,259.
The FAIR President did not hold back in his criticism of the Biden administration, stating, "It is a disaster created and perpetuated by the policies of the Biden administration." He accused President Biden of failing to take adequate measures to secure the U.S. border and instead opting for "illegal actions of historic proportions to throw open the borders."
Looking ahead, Stein predicted that the numbers will continue to rise. "September will be even higher and will continue to grow until the administration decides to stop incentivizing mass illegal immigration and begins honoring its constitutional responsibility to enforce the border and our immigration laws," he warned. Stein also claimed that moves by the administration to expedite work authorization for migrants could exacerbate the situation.
The border encounter statistics for August have raised concerns among immigration experts like Dan Stein, who believe that the Biden administration's policies have contributed to the crisis. With the numbers already surpassing last year's totals and projected to exceed 3 million encounters, it remains to be seen how the administration will address the ongoing challenges at the border.
