How big is the problem?
More unauthorised migrants are crossing the US southern border than ever before, according to official statistics. The US Customs and Border Protection agency uses the word “encounters” to document the number of times it intercepts migrants attempting to cross the border. These include people who apply for asylum and are either detained or released pending a long court process, and those who are immediately expelled. In the 2010s, border agents recorded around 400,000-500,000 encounters a year. But in the past four years, the average number has been about two million. The number of
