SE Valley Times

Janet Manecke, a Mesa resident and member of the St. Timothy's parish, said she is concerned about the rise in crime and trafficking associated with illegal immigration.

"Drugs, sex trafficking, theft and violence are rampant," Manecke said. "The murder rate is up, overdoses are up, and people are going missing daily! I believe in the severity of sex trafficking and its impact."

Since President Joe Biden took office in 2021, there have been over 9.7 million illegal crossings into the U.S. reported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Illegal apprehension records have been broken every year during the Biden administration, according to an April report from the Center Square. In fiscal year 2021, the 1.9 million illegal border crossings reported was a record high, the highest number in American history at that point. The record was broken in both fiscal year 2022 and again in fiscal year 2023, when 2.7 million and 3.2 million crossings were reported. None of the record crossing numbers include “gotaways,” the individuals that evaded capture or notice at the border. 

“To be clear, we never have and never will endorse Biden,” the U.S. Border Patrol Union posted on X. 

A June poll released by American Greatness reported that 59% of Arizona voters think that the Biden administration has not spent enough time addressing illegal immigration. Only 24 percent of respondents said that Biden was dedicating "the right amount" of time on addressing the issue. 

“In my 40 years of working this border, watching this border, I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly," Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels told League of American Workers (LAW) President Steve Cortes in the new documentary, What's Behind the Biden Border Crisis? Cortes Investigates. "This is the ugliest it’s ever been."

During fiscal year 2024 to date, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has arrested 35,178 illegal aliens who have previous criminal convictions or who are wanted by law enforcement, according to an analysis by Tucson Standard.

13.828 of these arrests have been made by the U.S. Border Patrol, and 21,350 of these arrests have been made by the CBP’s Office of Field Operations. The CBP’s 2024 fiscal year runs from October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024.