March 28, 2024 Border Timeline

Border Crisis Timeline: Harris's Policies are the "Root Cause"

Kamala Harris's Open-Border Policies are the "Root Cause"

2021
January 20: On the first day in office, the Harris-Biden administration dismantled numerous Trump immigration policies. Their administration:
Paused all deportations for 100 days.
Ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to limit the illegal immigrants targeted for arrest.
Repealed a Trump executive order that enhanced interior enforcement of immigration laws, cut funding to sanctuary cities, and created an office to track crimes committed by illegal immigrants.
Halted construction of the border wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Halted use of the Remain in Mexico policy, formally known as the Migrant Protection Protocols.
February 2: The Harris-Biden administration took the first step to repeal the Trump administration’s “public charge” rule, which ensured legal immigrants were able to support themselves financially and would not become dependent on taxpayer-funded welfare programs.
The Harris-Biden administration revoked a Trump presidential memorandum requiring sponsors of any non-citizens to reimburse the federal government for any government benefits – like Medicaid and food stamps – the non-citizen receives.
February 6: The Harris-Biden administration canceled Asylum Cooperative Agreements with El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras, which previously allowed the U.S. to send asylum seekers to these countries to “share the distribution of hundreds of thousands of asylum claims.”
March 1: Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas insisted there was no “crisis” at the southern border.
Mayorkas tells illegal immigrants to “wait” to come to the border until Biden’s policies are fully in place.
March 9: The Harris-Biden administration stopped enforcing the Trump-era public charge rule.
Reporting showed that in February, ICE encounters decreased by 60 percent due to Biden’s policies.
March 10: Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced there were more than 100,000 illegal crossings at the southern border in February 2021, a 28 percent increase over January.
March 18: Mayorkas claimed the “border is, in fact, secure.”
March 24: Kamala Harris was named “Border Czar,” where she promised to slow the flow of “irregular migration” by tackling the “root causes” of illegal immigration.
March 25: The Harris-Biden administration claimed their border crisis is seasonal and “happens every single solitary year.”
April 8: The Harris-Biden administration claimed illegal immigrants are “not” attempting to cross the border because of their policies.
The same day, CBP announced illegal crossings at the southern border in March jumped to their highest level in 15 years, with 171,000 encounters in total.
April 9: The Harris-Biden administration released their FY 2022 budget, which included no additional funding for the border wall and nixed all unused funds previously allocated to the border wall.
April 29: By Kamala Harris’s 100thday in office as vice president, the administration had taken more than 94 executive actions on immigration.
April 30: The Harris-Biden administration claimed “illegal crossings were “way down now” and that “we’ve now gotten control” of the border.
May 11: Mayorkas claimed “the border is closed.”
The same day, CBP announced over 178,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at the southern border in April, the worst one month total in two decades.
May 26: Mayorkas again claimed “The border is closed.”
June 1: The Harris-Biden administration formally terminated the Remain in Mexico program, but that decision was stayed by the Supreme Court.
June 8: Kamala Harris laughed and claimed she “hasn’t been to Europe” either when asked why she has yet to visit the southern border.
June 9: CBP announced there were more than 180,000 illegal immigrant crossings at the southern border in May, the highest total in 21 years.
June 15:The Harris-Biden administration expanded the Central American Minors (CAM) program, which increased eligibility for Central Americans under the age of 21 to come to the U.S. if they have a parent or guardian already in the program.
June 25: Kamala Harris made her first and only trip as vice president to the border.
Mayorkas claimed “we’ve made extraordinary progress” at the border.
July 16: CBP announced there were over 188,000 illegal immigrants encountered crossing the southern border in June, a new 21-year high in monthly border crossings.
August 8: Reports revealed the Harris-Biden administration was secretly flying illegal immigrants around the country, including to New York, Florida, and Pennsylvania, to deal with surges at the border.
August 9: After court rulings delayed the Harris-Biden administration, DHS announced preparations to quicky terminate the Remain in Mexico policy after it was initially delayed by the court.
August 11: All 50 Senate Democrats voted against keeping Title 42 – a successful Trump-era tool that fought illegal migration by allowing quick deportations.
August 12: CBP announced there were more than 212,000 illegal immigrant encountersat the southern border in July, the first time encounters exceeded 200,000 in 21 years.
August 24: The Supreme Court required that the Harris-Biden administration reinstate the Remain in Mexico program “in good faith,” although less than 6,000 illegal migrants were enrolled in the program as of August 2022.
September 2: The administration sent additional funds to Tajikistan to help fund their border security with Afghanistan following their failed withdrawal, but continued withholding support for U.S. border protection.
September 15: CBP announced that more than 208,000 illegal immigrants were encountered crossing the southern border in August, the second consecutive month crossings exceeded 200,000.
September 20: Up to 15,000 Haitian migrants camped out in Del Rio, Texas in conditions “similar to a third world refugee camp.”
September 22: Mayorkas: “We do have a plan to address migration at the southern border, we are executing it, and we’re starting to see the results.”
September 23:Mayorkas: “We have rescinded so many Trump immigration policies, it would take so much time to list them,” without providing nearly any policies the [Harris-Biden] administration has taken in their place.
September 24: Biden said Border Patrol agents, who were falsely accused of “whipping” illegal immigrants, “will pay” and “there will be consequences” despite lack of evidence for his claims.
Kamala Harris falsely smeared the Border Patrol agents by saying, “there needs to be consequences” and this “evoked images of some of the worst moments in our history.”
Mayorkas was made aware via email that no whipping occurred by Border Patrol agents yet continued to smear his own employees.
September 30: The Harris-Biden administration published new directives to ICE officers, instructing them that migrants’ illegal presence in the country “should not alone be the basis of an enforcement action against them.”
October 22: CBP announced over 192,000 illegal immigrants were encountered attempting to cross the southern border in September, with encounters for the fiscal year hitting a new record high of more than 1.6 million.
November 1: After a federal court ordered the administration must resume the Remain in Mexico policy, the Harris-Biden administration restarted it but failed to faithfully use it, with only a very small percentage of illegal immigrants enrolled over the following months.
November 15: Mayorkas did not know basic information regarding Biden’s border crisis.
Mayorkas: “We have more control” over the border than in previous administrations.
Mayorkas said he would “give myself an A” when asked what grade he would give himself for how successful Biden’s border polices have been.
The same day, CBP announced 164,000 illegal immigrants were encountered along the southern border in October – more than double the previous October and a new DHS high for the month.
December 15: The Harris-Biden Transportation Security Administration (TSA) began to allow illegal immigrants to use warrants, including a “Warrant for Arrest of Alien” and a “Warrant of Removal/Deportation,” to board domestic flights in the U.S.
December 17: CBP announced more than 173,000 illegal immigrants were encountered along the southern border in November, the highest total for November in DHS history.
2022
January 20: Mayorkas said that “unlawful presence in the United States will alone not be a basis for an immigration enforcement action.”
January 24: CBP announced 178,000 illegal immigrants were encountered along the southern border in December, making this the new worst December at the border in DHS history.
February 8: Reports indicated the Harris-Biden administration was increasingly using Alternatives to Detention to allow thousands of illegal immigrants to be released into the U.S. without a court date, with the number of migrants enrolled in this program more than doubling under Harris and Biden.
February 18: CBP announced more than 153,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at the southern border in January, making this the new highest total for January in DHS history.
March 15: CBP announced 164,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at the southern border in February, making this the new highest total for February in 22 years.
March 25: The Harris-Biden administration leaked plans to reduce the bed capacity at ICE detention facilities by more than 25 percent in its FY 2023 budget.
April 1: The Harris-Biden CDC announced Title 42 would end on May 23rd, dismantling a crucial Trump-era policy that helped keep the border secure.
April 18: CBP announced 221,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at the southern border in March, a new 22-year high.
April 27: Mayorkas: “We will not lose operational control of the border.”
April 28: Mayorkas: “We have effectively managed” the border.
May 4: Mayorkas: “We do not believe the policies of this administration have caused” the border crisis.
May 17: CBP announced 234,000 illegal immigrants attempted to cross the southern border in April, which marked at the time “likely the highest monthly numbers since the Border Patrol was formed in 1924.”
May 20: A Louisiana district court judge blocked The Harris-Biden administration from ending Title 42.
June 15: CBP announced that illegal crossings along the southern border totaled nearly 240,000 for May 2022, making this the new highest one-month total in DHS history.
July 15: CBP announced more than 207,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at the southern border in June, making this the highest number of June encounters in DHS history.
July 20: Mayorkas insisted ”the border is secure.”
August 15: CBP announced nearly 200,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at the southern border in July.
September 5: Roughly 47,000 immigration cases were dismissed because Harris-Biden administration officials failed to file the correct Notice to Appear paperwork for FY 2022.
September 8: The Harris-Biden administration finalized a rule change that rolled back the Trump administration’s public charge rule.
September 12: Kamala Harris claimed ”we have a secure border.”
September 19: CBP announced more than 203,000 illegal immigrants attempted to cross the southern border illegally in August, bringing the total to over 2 million in one year for the first time.
October 21: CBP announced over 227,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at the southern border in September 2022, which marked a record4 million for the year.
October 28: Reporting surfaced that 853 migrants died trying to cross the southern border in FY 2022, making it the deadliest year on record.
November 14:CBP announced over 230,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at the southern border in October, setting a new DHS record for the month.
November 15: Mayorkas continued to maintain that the border is “secure.”
December 1: Reporting surfaced that 73,000 illegal immigrants evaded Border Patrol in November 2022, marking the highest monthly number of gotaways ever recorded at the southern border.
December 6: Biden says he can’t visit the southern border because “there are more important things going on.”
December 27: The Supreme Court halted the Harris-Biden administration’s termination of Title 42.
2023
January 5: The Harris-Biden administration announced its intention to give two-year work permits to 30,000 Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan, and Venezuelan migrants per month who have no basis for legal immigration.
January 8: Biden finally made his first trip to the border – a “tightly controlled visit“ criticized as nothing more than a “dog and pony show.”
January 12: The Harris-Biden administration offered work permits and deportation deferrals to 2,000 Somali immigrants under Temporary Protection Status (TPS).
January 20: CBP announced there were more than 250,000 illegal crossings at the southern border in December 2022, breaking the record for the worst month in DHS history.
February 23: Reporting revealed that more Chinese nationals were crossing the San Diego border than Mexican nationals.
February 25: The New York Times discovered that the Harris-Biden administration lost track of more than 85,000 children after responding to the administration's demands to “move the children quickly out of shelters“ by rolling back important vetting and safeguard procedures.
March 8: A federal judge blocked the Harris-Biden administration from using humanitarian parole and “alternatives to detention” – otherwise known as “catch and release” – to mass release migrants into the country.
April 19: Mayorkas claimed “we are doing so very much to gain operational control” of the southern border.
May 9: The Harris-Biden administration authorized Border Patrol to begin the mass release of migrants into American cities if NGOs don’t have the capacity to hold them.
May 11: The Harris-Biden administration let Title 42 expire.
60,000 migrants waited in Mexico to enter as soon as Title 42 expired.
May 11: A federal judge blocked the Harris-Biden administration from implementing a policy allowing for the release of migrants without court dates.
June 20: CBP announced more than 204,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at the southern border in May, the second highest total for May in 22 years and a 337 percent increase over May encounters from 2017 – 2020.
June 23: The Supreme Court ruled that the Harris-Biden administration could continue setting priorities on which illegal immigrants to arrest and which to release.
Louisiana and Texas argued that the Harris-Biden administration's failure to arrest a significant number of illegal migrants has forced the states to jail or provide social services to people who should have been encountered.
July 7: The Harris-Biden administration added Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras to the list of countries approved for family reunification parole.
Those approved for family reunification parole can fly straight into the interior of the country, bypassing the border.
July 18: The Harris-Biden administration unilaterally paroled over half a million illegal immigrants using a 1950s law in an “unprecedented” way.
July 24: The Harris-Biden administration sued Texas over floating barriers placed in the Rio Grande to prevent illegal border crossings into Texas.
August 8: Border Patrol leadership set daily “bookout” targets to keep the number of migrants in custody manageable – including potentially increasing releases into the U.S. interior.
An internal CBP email read, “We respectfully request that you urgently use these bookout targets to formalize your daily processing pathway plans, to include transitioning to NTA/OR when consequence pathways are not sufficient.”
August 31: Karine Jean-Pierre: “The president has done more to secure the border and to deal with this issue of immigration than anybody else. He really has!”
September 6: A federal judge ordered Texas to remove the floating barriers in the Rio Grande after the Harris-Biden administration sued the state.
September 12: Mayorkas: The actions of Harris and Biden on immigration are “a model approach that has proven to work.”
That same day, the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration declared the U.S.-Mexico border the world’s deadliest migration land route.
September 16: Border Patrol separated migrant children from their parents for several days to avoid overcrowding.
September 20: The Harris-Biden administration offered deportation deferrals and work permits to nearly 500,000 Venezuelan immigrants.
September 21: Records obtained by the Center for Immigration Studies showed that between October 2022 and September 2023, the administration approved 221,456 Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans, and Nicaraguans to fly straight into the interior of the United States, bypassing the border.
September 22: CBP reported that 232,972 illegal immigrants were encountered at the southern border in August, which marked the highest number for August on record.
September 28: Biden failed to visit the border during a trip to Arizona despite invitations from local officials in border communities.
October 21: With 2.5 million encounters along the southern border, FY 2023 set a new record for illegal border crossings.
A record 15,000 migrants with criminal convictions were encountered at the border in FY 2023.
169 individuals on the terrorist watchlist crossed the southern border in FY 2023, breaking the all-time record of 98 set the previous year.
Border Patrol released over 900,000 illegal immigrants into the interior of the U.S. in FY 2023 – with experts saying they are “here indefinitely, if not forever.”
October 23: CBP announced more than 269,000 illegal immigrants were encountered along the southern border in September, which set a new record for the month.
October 31: Mayorkas could not give a straight answer when asked if terrorists affiliated with Hamas and Hezbollah had crossed the southern border illegally.
December 6: Biden said that a border wall is among “the most draconian actions possible.”
Mayorkas said that Republican border solutions, including construction of a border wall, limiting asylum, and limiting the president’s parole powers, are “violence to our fundamental values.”
December 12: The Harris-Biden administration said securing the border is an “extreme Republican partisan agenda.”
December 18: A record 12,600 migrants were encountered in a single 24-hour period.
December 23: CBP announced more than 242,000 illegal immigrants were encountered along the southern border in November, surpassing last year’s record for the highest total in November in DHS history.
2024
January 2: The Harris-Biden administration petitioned the Supreme Court to allow Border Patrol agents to remove razor wire installed by Texas along the southern border.
January 3: The Harris-Biden administration sued Texas over its immigration law that gives local law enforcement in Texas the authority to arrest migrants and judges the ability to issue removal orders.
The Harris-Biden administration called the new law “incredibly extreme“ and argued it “intrude[d] on the federal government’s exclusive authority“ to regulate immigration.
January 19: By his three-year mark, The Harris-Biden administration had taken 535 executive actions related to immigration.
January 24: The Supreme Court ruled Border Patrol agents are allowed to remove razor wire Texas had installed to deter crossings along the southern border.
January 26: CBP data showed a new all-time high in encounters for illegal border crossings with more than 300,000 in December.
January 27: Biden said that he would “shut down the border right now“ if only Congress would let him, despite already having the ability to do so.
January 29: Karine Jean-Pierre argued that Republicans have “refused to do anything“ about the border and that Harris and Biden take the border very seriously.
House Republicans passed the Secure Our Border Act in May 2023, over 250 days earlier.
January 31: Biden: “I’ve done all I can do. Just give me the power I’ve asked for the very day I got into office. Give me the border patrol, give me the people that judge. Give me the people who can stop this and work rationally.”
The same day, DEA announced over 77 million fentanyl pills and more than 12,000 pounds of fentanyl powder were seized in 2023, enough to kill every American.
Illicit drugs are flowing into the country at an alarming rate, with only 5 to 10 percent being intercepted as border officials struggle to contain the smuggling.
February 6: Biden: “The only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends.”
February 13: The House impeached Mayorkas for his handling of the border.
The same day, CBP announced 176,205 illegal immigrants were encountered at the southern border in January, bringing the total to more than 9 million illegal southern border crossings since Biden took office.
For 35 months straight, monthly encounters have been higher than even the highest month under President Trump.
February 15: A federal watchdog report found the Harris-Biden administration failed to properly vet and monitor the homes where migrant children were placed.
The report also found HHS did not properly follow-up with children and their sponsors.
February 26: Biden announced a second visit to the border only after Trump had already announced his own visit.
Photo: LUIS TORRES/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock