The number of people arrested at the southern border for illegally entering the United States from Mexico has soared since April despite the Trump administration‘s attempt to curtail illegal migration amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In July, Border Patrol agents working in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California arrested 38,347 people for unlawfully crossing the border, according to Customs and Border Protection data released Thursday afternoon. Arrests have increased 237% since April, the first full month that agents began immediately expelling people into Mexico after taking them into custody. In April, fewer than 16,200 people were taken into custody at the border compared to more than double that number last month.
A March recommendation by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged border officials not to detain immigrants. CBP responded to the March recommendation with plans to “expel” anyone who was encountered illegally entering the country, including those who claim asylum prior to removal. What is normally a days to weekslong process of being returned home turned into a 96-minute process of being sent back to Mexico for more than 90% of all illegal crossers.
For the success that the Trump administration has seen under the Title 42 program when it comes to deterring illegal immigration, it may already be losing its effect. This surge in arrests since April comes a year after the 2019 border crisis when federal law enforcement officials at the southern border were seeing more than 100,000 people cross illegally into the country each month. Although those numbers have dropped in the last 12 months, the sudden spike indicates the Trump administration’s steps to deter illegal immigration are hitting a bump.
