Record number of border deaths occurred under Biden, data shows

U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded 880 illegal migrant deaths last fiscal year under the Biden administration, marking the highest number of deaths since data became available, according to data obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request.

The second-highest number of migrant deaths, 566, occurred in fiscal year 2021, which lasted from October 2020 through September 2021, according to data published Friday by The Epoch Times. Although this time period includes part of the Trump administration, federal data shows that during President Joe Biden's first full month in office, Border Patrol agents began encountering tens of thousands of more illegal migrants at the southern border. 

Publicly available data shows that in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, 247 border deaths occurred, a record low. The Biden administration has broken the policy of publicly releasing the border death toll. 

Last fiscal year, Border Patrol agents encountered a record of nearly 2.4 million migrants. Some border communities, such as Brooks County, Texas, have been forced to build makeshift morgues to deal with the increased number of migrant deaths.

"When you increase the number of illegal aliens coming by 500 percent, you're going to increase all the suffering, tragedies, and inhumane actions associated with that," former CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan told Epoch. 

"Biden's got blood on his hands. He knows this is happening. And he knows migrants are dying. He knows migrants are being assaulted. He knows migrants are being raped. He knows migrants are being thrown into the life of trafficking," he said.

The number of deaths may be higher this fiscal year, as encounters are up 38% so far from what they were at this point in fiscal year 2022.