Border patrol in California sees 51 percent rise in illegal immigrants in April

Illegal crossings along the California-Mexico border exploded by 51 percent last month, taxing federal resources and leading to delays in the screening of legitimate travel, border patrol officials disclosed Friday.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said at least 1,632 illegal immigrants were stopped between April 1 and April 26 compared to 1,081 inadmissible individuals for the same period in March. "These individuals are increasingly citizens of countries other than Mexico," the CPB said.

Officials said the steady influx of illegal immigrants since President Biden took office on Jan. 20 was creating consequences for commerce, travel and security.

"With these increases, operations at the border crossings have been impacted as CBP officials must dedicate resources to securing the port of entry and processing these individuals, repositioning resources that would otherwise be dedicated to critical passenger and cargo processing, leading to increased wait times for the traveling public," the agency said.

CPB said it was working closely with Mexico to find solutions. "Our combined efforts to address illegal crossings in both countries are necessary to allow us to get back to devoting the resources necessary to keep legitimate traffic flowing," it said.