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Fox News’ Bill Melugin points out CBP’s Friday-night info dump of frightening immigration numbers

October 22, 2022 | | Print Article

After considerable delays, the September report from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to complete fiscal year 2022 was released and the “unconscionable” timing caused as much concern as the numbers themselves.

Fox News national correspondent Bill Melugin has remained at the forefront of coverage on the border crisis and late Friday night he drew attention the damning details on President Joe Biden’s administration’s handling of it that CBP seemed determined to sweep under the rug. Breaking records for the month of September and annual encounters, the report was not made available to the public until close to midnight Friday night.

In case you missed it, Melugin wrote, “The federal government dumped the September border numbers in an 11pm ET press release on Friday night. Those numbers revealed the highest September migrant encounters in DHS history (227,000+), and nearly 2.4 million encounters to close out fiscal year ’22.”

With fiscal year 2019 through 2022, the correspondent documented the increased numbers climbing in September at 52,546 in ’19, 57,674 in ’20, 192,001 in ’21 and 227547 in ’22 highlighting, “The FY’22 September border numbers are more than quadruple the FY’19 numbers, which was the year Trump had his own surge at the border.”

Melugin also emphasized the number of terror suspects arrested at 98 in FY’22. “That’s almost quadruple the previous 5 years combined. FY17-FY21 = 26.”

After immense pressure from members of Congress to release the data, and with former officials like one-time Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli threatening to release the numbers himself if current Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus refused, the late drop was considered as damning the terrible handling of the border itself.

“After weeks of hiding the Sept. border numbers from the American people, the DEMs finally released the numbers (in the middle of the night),” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) posted. “The lack of transparency is unconscionable, especially concerning the ongoing invasion at our border. VOTE REPUBLICAN FOR A SECURE BORDER.”

Cuccinelli had told Fox News Digital, “Hiding these border numbers just adds to the ways Mayorkas and Magnus are failing to do their job and are turning their backs on the men and women of CBP and Americans to run interference for drug runners and human traffickers. American people deserve the truth. We’ll give it to them if the Biden Administration is not capable.”

Those kinds of threats were raised by Stephen Miller, former adviser to then-President Donald Trump who tweeted, “Under pressure, DHS released the year-end border report. Nearly 2.4 million illegals crossed–obliterating every record in the book–not counting record massive numbers of got aways. Mark Kelly did this. Cortez Masto did this. Raphael Warnock did this. Vote them ALL out.”

With just over two weeks until the midterm election and Democrats seemingly desperate to hold onto any talking point to quell the anticipated red wave, the shared conclusion was the administration doesn’t want this story to be covered.

This is especially likely as Biden, who has remained fond of passing the buck on any issue that doesn’t garner him favor, had said during the debate series before winning the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination that “asylum seekers” should “immediately surge to the border” were he to be elected.

 

Kevin Haggerty
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