By Zach Jewell
A record number of illegal immigrants from Venezuela crossed the U.S. southern border in September, according to Department of Homeland Security preliminary data.
Around 50,000 Venezuelans illegally entered the U.S. last month, shattering the monthly record of 34,000 set in September 2022, according to the DHS data that was obtained by CBS News on Wednesday. The data show that on some days, up to 3,000 Venezuelan migrants crossed the border, and illegal immigrants from the country made up roughly one-quarter of the more than 200,000 Border Patrol apprehensions in September.
The spike in illegal crossings made by Venezuelan nationals came the same month that the Biden administration gave permission to hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants from Venezuela to stay and work in the U.S. as federal officials insist it would be unsafe for them to return home.
“Temporary protected status provides individuals already present in the United States with protection from removal when the conditions in their home country prevent their safe return,” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement on September 21. “That is the situation that Venezuelans who arrived here on or before July 31 of this year find themselves in.”