Officials on the southern border encountered fewer than 40,000 migrants last month who they say illegally crossed or did not have documents to immediately go through ports of entry, marking the lowest rate in two years.
Acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan on Tuesday told reporters at agency headquarters in Washington that a total of 36,679 people were stopped. Of that figure, 29,200 people were arrested by Border Patrol, which is within CBP and works the land between official crossing points. The remaining 7,000 were denied entry at border crossing checkpoints on the U.S.-Mexico border.
CBP uses the number of arrests as an indicator of how many people are trying to enter the country illegally.
The total of 36,679 is down from 144,116 last May, an influx that created a humanitarian crisis. The last time it was below 37,000 was February 2018. Morgan attributed the significant decline to Trump administration policies. He said 95% of illegal crossers were being sent home or facing “consequences,” though he did not specify what those were.
The Trump administration put several policy initiatives into action last year after it asked Congress to override a court ruling that allowed families in federal custody to be released into the country after 20 days. Republicans said the releases incentivized the hundreds of thousands of Central American family members who made the trip to the border and illegally crossed, knowing they would not be held long-term or sent home.
CBP officers at official crossing points only allow a certain number of people to apply per day, claiming credible fear of returning home, the first step in the asylum process. Those seeking asylum must then return to Mexico and wait weeks or months for a court date in the United States near the port where they first sought to enter. In some cases, migrants are returned to other countries in Latin America to seek help there because they passed through those countries on the way to the U.S.
The number of arrests dropped significantly in the first few months after Mexico deployed thousands of federal police and military to the U.S. and Guatemalan borders to deter illegal immigration. That came after President Trump followed through on a threat to impose tariffs on Mexican imports if the country did not take action.
Morgan said that in light of the changes that prevent families from being arrested and then released into the country, smuggling organizations have gone back to helping adults, primarily from Mexico, move over the border and evade arrest. A year ago, more than 3-in-5 people apprehended by Border Patrol were people from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Now, three-fifths of arrests are Mexican citizens.
