Subject: Re: we don't need nurses, right?

Just as my question - Do you agree with Dope that the borders were open, was not answered by you?

At the hazard of sounding like a lawyer, it depends on your definition of "open". If you mean "open" in the sense that anyone could cross, anywhere, at any time, without the Border Patrol caring or knowing, no. If you mean "open" as in any brown people allowed in, even if temporarily, while waiting for their hearing, then they appeared "open". Of course, the corporate media made the most of the hype and hysteria, showing huge lines at border crossings, and mobs walking along Mexican roads heading north.

From the net sifter:

The number of encounters at the southern border varies significantly by year, with a peak of over 2.2 million in fiscal year 2022 and a drastic drop to nearly 238,000 in fiscal year 2025. Other years have seen high numbers, such as over 1.7 million in FY2023 and 646,822 in FY2020.
Fiscal Year
Number of Encounters
FY2017 526,901
FY2019 1,147,480
FY2020 646,822
FY2021 Over 1.7 million
FY2022 2.2 million
FY2023 Over 1.7 million
FY2025 238,000

For the halibut, I pulled up the numbers during the Obama administration. They never exceeded 500,000/year. So, yes, numbers of 1.7-2M/year were extraordinarily high.

Steve