Number of Illegal Aliens Seized Again Exceeds 1 Million

The number of illegal aliens apprehended on the U.S.--Mexican border has topped a million for the third straight year, the Immigration and Naturalization Service said Friday.

“This is the earliest that the 1-million mark has been reached,” INS Commissioner Alan C. Nelson said in a statement released in Washington.

Border Patrol officers apprehended 1,056,907 illegal aliens on the southern border during fiscal 1984, the INS said, but did not reach the 1-million mark until Sept. 13.

The fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

Last month, more than 117,000 illegal aliens were apprehended at the Mexican border, a 43% increase over July 1984. The total for 1985 is running about 8% higher than last year, the agency said.

“The large influx of illegal aliens reflects the continued availability of jobs in the United States for illegal aliens, which is drawing people to this country from Mexico, Central America and from other places throughout the world in search of employment and economic improvement,” the agency said.

The San Diego sector of the Border Patrol, which accounts for about 34% of all southern border apprehensions, has detained 346,232 illegal aliens this year, agency spokesman Ed Pyeatt said. That is about 35% more than last year at this time, he said.

Pyeatt attributed the increase more to events in Mexico than to better enforcement at the border. “We’ve got a few more agents, but our techniques haven’t changed too much,” Pyeatt said.