DHS: Border Patrol Caught 30% Fewer Illegal Aliens in FY15

U.S. Border Patrol was 30% less successful at apprehending illegal aliens in fiscal year 2015, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) year-end report shows.

The number of illegal aliens arrested by border agents fell from 486,651 in FY 2014 to 337,117 in FY 2015 – a 30.7% decline.

Arrests of illegal aliens in FY 2015 were also down 79% from their peak of 1.6 million in FY 2000, DHS says. But, while U.S. Border Patrol is catching only about a fifth as many illegal aliens (21%) annually, the number of illegal aliens in the U.S. has jumped 43% over that same time, from 7.9 million to 11.3 million.

True, not all illegal aliens in the U.S. are border-crashers – but, if the percentage of illegal aliens who overstayed their Visas has remained relatively stable, the number of illegal border-crashers has still soared as arrests have plummeted. And, it’s still DHS’s responsibility to catch and return people who are here illegally, regardless of how they got here.

The DHS is spinning its failure to catch as many illegal aliens as in previous years as proof that the border is actually more secure, not less.

DHS Sec. Jeh Johnson made the claim in a statement introducing the new report:

“The removal numbers were driven by the dramatic decrease in those apprehended at the border in FY 2015 -- 337,117 -- the second lowest apprehension number since 1972, reflecting a lower level of attempted illegal migration at our borders.”

The report also spins the data to claim fewer illegal aliens are breaking into the U.S.:

“With the exception of 1 year, apprehensions—a key measure of illegal border crossings—along the southwest border are at their lowest level in more than 40 years.”

But, arrests are not a proxy for the number of crimes committed. If they were, border agents could go on strike, the number of arrests would fall to zero, and the border would be 100% secure.

Likewise, the number of alcohol-related arrests during Prohibition is not an accurate measure of the number of people who consumed alcohol during a period in which speakeasys flourished and some states even refused to enforce the law, a la today’s “sanctuary cities.”

There may - or may not - be a correlation between arrests and violations, but one number cannot be used as a replacement for the other or to determine cause and effect.

Finally, if you still believe the Obama administration’s claim that the border is now more secure, check out these stories from multiple news outlets featured on the Drudge Report: