The final numbers from September 2021 were released in a Friday afternoon news dump by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The release of the report was later than usual, with the month of October nearly over. September marks the end of the fiscal year.

It’s no wonder that the administration wanted to release the numbers with as little notice as possible. The Biden border crisis continues on the southern border. The numbers are bad, though there was a slight decrease in apprehensions recorded in September. The CBP reports a 9% decrease in unique encounters in September compared to August. But there was a 9% increase of encounters of single adults compared to August.

*The number of unique encounters in September 2021 was 142,710, a 9% reduction in unique encounters from the prior month.
*In total, there were 192,001 encounters along the Southwest border, a 9% decrease compared to August. Of those, 26% involved individuals who had at least one prior encounter in the previous 12 months, compared to an average one-year re-encounter rate of 14% for FY2014-2019.
*Over half (59%) of encounters were single adults, with 113,030 encounters in September, a 9% increase compared to August.
*102,673 encounters, more than 53% of the total, were processed for expulsion under Title 42. 89,238 encounters were processed under Title 8.
*84,911 encounters involving single adults (75% of all single adult encounters) were processed for expulsion under Title 42, with 28,119 processed under Title 8.
*17,599 encounters involving family unit individuals (27% of all family unit individuals) were processed for expulsion under Title 42, with 46,789 processed under Title 8.

CBP reports that because of the large number of expulsions under Title 42, there is a larger number of migrants making multiple attempts at border crossings. The agency claims that the number of unique encounters is overstated because of this. If that is the case, CBP should note that the number is likely understated because of the number of migrants who evade apprehension and simply fade into the interior of the country. Brandon Judd, President of the National Border Patrol Council made that point this morning on CNN’s Smerconish show. The full picture isn’t painted because the number of those who evade apprehension isn’t included.

The total number of apprehensions in the fiscal year 2021 was 1,734,686. In comparison, the total number in the fiscal year 2020 was 458,088. The 2021 fiscal year number is the highest ever reached in American history since the data has been recorded. Not a 10 year high, or a 35 year high, as was first reported, but ever. How’s that for a historic marker, Joe? Biden is so quick to brag about claiming his administration is the best at something, to have accomplished historic achievements, yet this is one historic achievement that is not something to brag about. It’s all intentional on Biden’s part, clearly, or the crisis wouldn’t persist. He caved to the open borders progressives a long time ago for political expediency.

The interview with Judd was timely, given the release of the information late yesterday. He pointed to the fact that people from countries we haven’t traditionally seen in illegal migration are now turning up, such as Ukraine and Romania. Judd said the catch and release policy used by this administration is a magnet for people from around the world to attempt to cross the southern border. Smerconish tried to cover for Biden when he asked if there was a tangible difference between how the previous administration handled the border and how the current one does. Is it a perception instead of reality situation? Umm, no. Brandon Judd pointed to Biden’s bone-headed (my word not his) moves to abolish Trump border policies and agreements at the very beginning of his term in office, particularly his attempt to end the Remain in Mexico agreement. Judd said if the U.S. doesn’t hold people in custody as they process asylum claims, the message is sent to people around the world that they will be released. That is where the magnet of catch and release comes in. There is a global magnet, not just one from Central America and Mexico which the administration has focused on. Remember Kamala’s feckless trip to Central American countries where she tried to address core problems? Nothing has changed.

The CBP report is chock full of failure. It was released the same day that White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was grilled on Biden’s bogus claim that he had been to the southern border and understands it quite well, as he said during his CNN town hall on Thursday night. What a bunch of malarkey from both Biden and Psaki. Psaki tried to turn a car trip during Biden’s brief 2008 presidential campaign along the New Mexico border with Mexico into a trip to the southern border. It’s laughable, as John wrote about yesterday. Two minutes on the border doesn’t count as a visit. This administration is a joke.

That crazy claim that Biden’s been to the border – the only time pointed to in his entire 50 years in elected office, by the way – reminded me of when George W. Bush was roundly criticized for flying over the area devastated by Hurricane Katrina. He looked out of touch, they said. Dollars to donuts, Biden didn’t even bother to look out his car window at the border with Mexico in 2008 as he was driven past it. Biden is a callous Democrat who thinks the ends justify the means. If open borders bring humanitarian and public health crises, so be it. It’s the price of transforming America into the progressive left’s idea of a world without borders. It’s a world where illegal immigrants have the same rights and privileges of legal American citizens. There is no punishment for breaking laws, including the first one when they entered the country illegally.

Where’s Kamala? At this point, that is a rhetorical question. Like Joe, she’s just too busy to tour the southern border – a real tour, not a pit stop and photo ops in El Paso on her way to California as happened during her sole trip to the border. Yesterday, the day the CBP report came out, it was reported that Kamala is heading off to Europe, not the southern border in November. She’s finally getting her trip to Europe.

Harris will travel to Paris in November to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, deliver a speech at the annual Paris Peace Forum and attend the Paris Conference on Libya, the White House said Friday, according to The Associated Press.

You can’t make this stuff up. The Biden border crisis is meant to be the new normal in Biden’s America, apparently. There is no end in sight or any interest from Team Biden to control the border.