Washington.- Arrests for illegally crossing the southern border of the United States fell 33% in July to their lowest level since September 2020, as a result of the temporary suspension of asylum rights, authorities reported on Friday.
The Border Patrol made 56,408 apprehensions last month, down from 83,536 in June, according to Customs and Border Protection, which is affiliated with the agency.
Asylum was suspended at the border on June 5 because apprehensions for illegal crossings surpassed a threshold of 2,500 a day, though a lack of deportation flights prevents authorities from expelling everyone. U.S. officials say arrests dropped 55 percent after the measure went into effect, following a sharp decline this year attributed largely to increased surveillance by Mexican authorities.
“In July, our border security measures enhanced our ability to crack down on illegal entry,” said Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller.
These figures, which are roughly in line with preliminary estimates, could give Democrats some relief on an issue that has plagued them throughout Joe Biden’s presidency.
“The Biden-Harris administration has taken effective action, and Republicans continue to do nothing,” said White House spokesman Angelo Fernandez Hernandez.
More than 38,000 people entered the United States through land border crossings using an online appointment system called CBP One, bringing the total to more than 765,000 since the system was implemented in January 2023.
More than 520,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela have been admitted through July under a separate policy that allows immigrants from those four countries to apply for entry to the United States online as long as they have a financial sponsor and arrive at an airport. Permits were recently suspended for people from those four countries because of suspected fraud involving sponsors.
“(The Department of Homeland Security) is working to resume processing applications as quickly as possible, with appropriate safeguards in place,” CBP said in a statement.
Republican Rep. Mark Green, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, criticized the Biden administration’s new and expanded legal avenues for border crossings.
“This administration is orchestrating a massive game of deception, encouraging otherwise inadmissible aliens to enter through border crossings rather than between them, thereby creating the impression that things have improved under this administration, when in reality an ever-increasing burden is being placed on our communities,” Green said.
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