The New York Times reports that U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has allowed more than 100,000 immigrants to enter the United States last year under a program that the Biden administration just claimed to implement in January. 

Per the Times: 

Previously, the CBP One process was open only to migrants who were recommended by a nonprofit organization, which applied on their behalf. From May to December, more than 109,000 migrants entered the United States this way.

Background

President Joe Biden and his administration have been getting hammered regarding their mishandling of the southern border crisis.

During the 2022 fiscal year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) saw 2.3 million migrant encounters - which was a historic year. But, Fiscal Year 2023 is already on pace to top that figure. Current estimates suggest that the CPB could see over 2.87 million encounter this fiscal year.

In early January, after facing much criticism regarding the southern border crisis - including criticism from some members of his own party - Biden decided to do two things: he took his first trip as president to the U.S.-Mexico border and he unveiled a plan that he claimed would address the southern border crisis.

As part of this plan, Biden expanded a humanitarian parole program - referred to above as CBP One. Under this new version of the program, migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba, and Nicaragua are paroled into the U.S. for a two-year period if they meet certain requirements, including financial sponsorship.

Critics were skeptical of this plan. Many argued that it is a way to artificially deflate the illegal immigration numbers by simply allowing illegal immigrants to enter America under this program - thereby removing their "illegal" status. Now, it appears that there is some truth to this criticism.

The latest

The Biden administration's DHS recently put out a statement claiming miraculous success with its southern border plan.

The Times reports:

The Homeland Security Department said the number of times Cubans, Nicaraguans, Haitians and Venezuelans were caught crossing illegally fell 97 percent — from a seven-day daily average of 3,367 on Dec. 11 to 115 on Jan. 24. The department said the new measures put January on track to have significantly fewer illegal crossings overall than December, which set a record.

Mayoraks, personally, declared the measure a success. "These expanded border enforcement measures are working," he said.

Republicans, however, aren't buying this.

A lawsuit has been filed

A coalition of 20 Republican states has just filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration arguing that Biden's expansion of the parole program amounts to "a new visa program that allows hundreds of thousands of aliens to enter the United States who otherwise have no basis for doing so.”

Breitbart News reports:

The inflow illegally heaps additional costs on states and their taxpayers, the lawsuit says. It also adds to the pocketbook damage done to ordinary Americans by Washington’s policy of importing more of the workers, renters, and consumers that spike values on Wall Street.

It remains to be seen how this will play out. But, we ought to expect two things in the near future: the illegal immigration numbers to be deflated for the month of January and the Biden administration to claim victory over the southern border crisis.