HOUSTON — The rhetoric about the US-Mexico border is reaching a new fever pitch.
“We believe in law and order and this state and by God we're going to deliver," Gov. Greg Abbott said.
The governor says Texas needs a border wall because the southern border is a disaster zone.
"Last April when President Trump was president they apprehended just over 17,000 last year,” the governor said. “This year they apprehended more than 170,000. That's a 1,000 percent increase.”
So let's Verify, "are illegal border crossings on the rise under President Biden?"
Our source: Data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
From March to May of this year, Border Patrol arrested 514,901 people crossing illegally. That's already more than all of fiscal year 2020 combined.
In April 2020, under then President Trump,16,182 were arrested. This April under President Biden - it's exploded to 173,686.
That's a 973% increase.
Gov. Abbott’s numbers are slightly off but his claim illegal crossings are up in this new administration, we can Verify is true.
The governor also claims who is crossing has changed too.
"Early on it was unaccompanied minors now a majority are adults coming across alone," he said.
Let's Verify.
Do single adults now make up the majority of border crossers under President Biden?
CBP data shows 636,892 single adults have been arrested crossing the border this fiscal year. That’s compared to 78,513 unaccompanied minors.
Yes, that's clearly a majority.
But if you look closer, single adults were also a majority of crossers in 2018, 2019, and 2020 when President Trump was in charge.
So Gov. Abbott's numbers are accurate, but his claim about when this change started, we can Verify is false.