The number of illegal immigrants encountered at the nation’s borders in January was a major decline from that of December 2023, marking the first big decrease in six months. It comes at a time when the Biden administration is facing calls for retribution from Republicans infuriated over the three-year border crisis.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection data released Tuesday afternoon, hours before House lawmakers are scheduled to vote on impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, revealed 242,587 non-U.S. citizens were encountered attempting to enter the United States last month.