WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), Ranking Member of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, issued the following statement after U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released operational statistics from February that show a seven percent increase in border arrests compared to January, and a 60 percent increase from February 2021, as the United States’ worst migrant crisis at our southern border continues:
“I am alarmed the February CBP operational statistics show an increase in border arrests from January, despite it being a significantly shorter month. CBP reported nearly 164,973 total encounters at the border in February. This includes more than 26,500 migrant family members; more than 126,000 single adult migrants; and more than 12,000 unaccompanied children, up from 8,000 encounters in January. This crisis is a direct result of the Biden administration’s policy choices.
“The surge in illicit narcotics coming over our border also continues to rise, with seizures of heroin and methamphetamines doubling over the last month. As recent CDC data has shown, these illicit narcotics, including deadly fentanyl, are taking a record number of lives in communities in Ohio and across our country. The failure of this administration to control our southern border has resulted in record levels of deadly fentanyl coming into our country, leading to more American lives being lost, families devastated, and has contributed to the growing strength of Mexican transnational criminal organizations.”
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