Illegal crossings at the United States-Mexico border rose slightly in August, after falling every month since February.
There were 58,038 encounters at the southwest border last month, figures from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) showed, up from the 56,399 seen in July.
Numbers were around 68 percent lower than August 2023, CBP said, adding that the change was in part down to President Joe Biden’s actions in June to toughen border restrictions.
“CBP continues to enforce the Securing the Border interim final rule and deliver strong consequences for illegal entry, and encounters between ports of entry remain at their lowest level in years,” Troy A. Miller, Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Commissioner, said in a press release.
Ecuadorian migrant, Willie stands with his 4-month-old daughter Antonella while waiting to be apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border protection officers on June 24, 2024 in Ruby, Arizona. Border crossings fell every month from February through July, before a slight rise in August.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
The numbers over the past few months have shown a marked difference on December 2023, when border patrol agents encountered a record 250,000 people.
Biden’s ruling in June, which effectively halted asylum claims at the border, saw a sharp downturn in crossings between ports of entry, along with a rise in removal flights and deportations by immigration authorities.
The Department of Homeland Security sent over 131,000 people back to more than 140 countries from June 4 through September 10, CBP said.
Overall, apprehensions along the southwest border are on track to be their lowest since fiscal year 2020, under former President Donald Trump’s strict controls during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Legal crossings have continued, with migrants who are able to make an appointment using the CBP One app entering the U.S. through legal ports of entry. In August, 44,700 people were processed, adding to the total of around 813,000 since January 2023.
Other immigrants have entered legally through the Biden administration’s Advance Travel Authorization program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, which was paused over concerns of fraudulent activity by sponsors.
Citizens from those countries are allowed to purchase airplane tickets for the U.S. after thorough vetting by immigration officials. Nearly 530,000 have been granted parole under this program so far and officials said this had cut illegal crossings of people from those countries by 99 percent.
Miller said that tougher border controls were helping to disrupt transnational criminal organizations, too.
Over 19,600 pounds of fentanyl had been seized so far this fiscal year, CBP said, against 27,000 pounds in 2023.
“In August, CBP’s counternarcotics surge efforts also led to the seizure of 30 percent more dangerous drugs than in July—keeping them out of our communities and enabling further enforcement against these criminal networks,” Miller explained.
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