By Bethany Blankley (the center square)
Former U.S. Customs and Border Protection chief Mark Morgan estimates that the number of people who entered the U.S. illegally and evaded capture in fiscal year 2023 is closer to 1 million, far higher than the “more than 600,000” reported Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told U.S. Senators. during a hearing on Tuesday.
Morgan told The Center Square on Wednesday in response to questions about Mayorkas’ testimony that officially known data on escapes could reach one million in the 2023 budget year, and that the nearly 1.7 million escapes since January 2021 would be undercounted by at least 20% are reported.
It’s “closer to over 2 million,” he said of the number of escapes since President Joe Biden first took office.
Gotaways is the official term used by Customs and Border Protection to describe foreign nationals who enter the U.S. illegally, primarily between ports of entry, and do not return to Mexico or Canada. They generally do not file asylum or other immigration-related claims and deliberately enter illegally to avoid capture. Many have criminal records and flee when pursued by Border Patrol agents or others in law enforcement, officials told The Center Square.
“The question Secretary Mayorkas should answer for the American people is how many aliens on the Terror Watchlist or Special Interest Aliens, who come from countries we know sponsor or harbor terrorist organizations, are among the [close to 1.7 million] known escapees who entered our country under his watch,” he told The Center Square.
‘The answer is: he has no idea. It is not about whether and when the threat reaches our homeland. It’s already here.”
Testifying before the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday, Mayorkas said more than 600,000 escapes were reported in the 2023 budget year, a low estimate compared to data first reported by The Center Square.
U.S. Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, asked Mayorkas how many escapes U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported in 2023. Mayorkas responded: “I believe that number is over 600,000. I am sure you are well aware that the phenomenon of escapes has been a challenge for the Department of Homeland Security for decades. In fact, it is a powerful example of a broken immigration system.”
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According to preliminary data obtained by The Center Square, Border Patrol agents reported at least 769,174 escapes in nine southwest border sectors in fiscal year 2023. This excludes data from the Office of Field Operations and data from the remaining 11 national CBP sectors (there are 20), including at the northern border.
Border Patrol agents in one northern border sector alone reported about 4,000 escapes in fiscal year 2023, the highest number in the history of the northern border.
The nearly 770,000 escapes are included among the roughly 4 million illegal border crossings reported in fiscal 2023 and more than 10 million since January 2021, when President Joe Biden first took office.
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These are the highest numbers of illegal border crossings reported in US history. In contrast, there were at least 308,655 known, reported escapes in fiscal year 2021 and 606,150 reported in fiscal year 2022, as first reported by The Center Square.
According to CBP data, 736 known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) were apprehended at the northern and southern borders in fiscal year 2023. The number of KSTs that were among the escape numbers is unknown.
The majority of escapees are single, military-age men. However, they also include women and children, many of whom are trafficked, law enforcement officials say.
Former ICE chief Tom Homan not only disagrees with Mayorkas’ claim about escapes representing a “broken immigration system,” but says the issue is not about immigration, but about national security.
“If you think not one of the 1.7 million [gotaways] comes from a country that sponsors terrorism, then you ignore the data,” he said. “That makes this a major national security problem.”
Homan claims Mayorkas has destroyed the system he and others put in place during the Trump administration, and that the Biden administration’s border policies “pose the greatest threat to national security since September 11.”
As a result, he says, Mayorkas should be impeached.
“Based on recently released data on border numbers,” including “more than 900,000 illegal aliens released into the U.S.” and the more than 600,000 escapes Mayorkas claims in one year, he said, “DHS Secretary Mayorkas should be dropped off.”
Related: House Republicans tell Mayorkas he’s lying and should resign
Homan also says he has been calling on Congress to impeach Mayorkas for more than two years. Several Republicans in Congress and attorneys general, led by Florida AG Ashley Moody, have called for his impeachment.
Republicans on the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security, led by committee chairman Mark Green, R-Tennessee, continue to hold hearings and issue reports supporting their claim that Mayorkas is failing in his duty and should be removed from office.
Green, a retired U.S. Army major and West Point graduate, says Mayorkas has been failed not only because he helped create the border crisis, but also because DHS is allowing Afghan “refugees” to enter the U.S. brought after Biden’s deadly and chaotic withdrawal of US troops from the country, has not been properly vetted. Afghanistan in August 2021.
The border report: #Gotaways captured primarily on camera in Terrell County in the Big Bend Sector of Texas. Border patrol agents, law enforcement and homeland security officers – charged with defending the homeland – have no idea who or where they are. Nearly 1.6 million => ind populations of 11 states. pic.twitter.com/PHnXFWrOFR
— Bethany Blankley (@BethanyBlankley) August 24, 2023
Center Square reported preliminary Border Patrol data, excluding OFO data, obtained from a Border Patrol agent on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
Official records are still a guess, officials say, because agents cannot report everyone who escapes for various reasons. Former Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz previously testified to Congress that escape data is underreported by between 10% and 20%.
Ultimately, law enforcement officials say they have no idea how many escapees there are in the U.S., where or who they are.
Syndicated with permission from The Center Square.