WASHINGTON — The number of arrests for illegally crossing the U.S. southern border with Mexico increased in February from the previous month. But at a time when immigration is increasingly a concern for voters, the numbers were still among the lowest during Joe Biden’s presidency.
According to figures from Customs and Border Protection, Border Patrol agents made 140,644 arrests of people trying to enter the country through legal border crossing points in February.
The figures are part of a series of data related to immigration, trafficking and fentanyl seizures released monthly by CBP. The immigration-related numbers are being closely watched at a time of intense political scrutiny over who is entering the country and whether the Biden administration has a handle on the issue.
Republicans, led by former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, have charged that Biden’s policies have encouraged migrants to try to come to the US and that the border has spiraled out of control. The Biden administration responds by saying Republicans have failed to work with Democrats to fund a major border security bill, arguing that what’s happening at the southern border is part of a global phenomenon with more and more people fleeing their homes in search of safety.
The numbers come after a December in which the Border Patrol tallied 249,785 apprehensions — a record high that heightened tensions over immigration — before plummeting in January.
Officials credited Mexico’s enforcement efforts as well as seasonal fluctuations affecting when and where migrants attempt to cross the border for the decline from December to January and February.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said during a Feb. 29 trip with Biden to Brownsville, Texas, that the “primary reason is the enhanced enforcement efforts on the part of the Mexican government.” But he said the encounters in Arizona continued in part because Sonora, the Mexican state immediately south of Arizona, is difficult to patrol.
In February, Arizona’s Tucson sector was by far the busiest region for migrant crossings between ports of entry, followed by San Diego and El Paso, Texas.
In addition, 42,100 migrants used an app called CBP One to make an appointment to report to an official border crossing point to gain entry into the United States.
The app has been a key part of the Biden administration’s efforts to reduce chaos at the border by encouraging migrants to wait for an appointment instead of wading through the river or trekking through the desert in search of Border Patrol agents to turn themselves in.
The government has also allowed 30,000 people into the country every month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, using the government’s humanitarian parole program. The migrants must have a financial sponsor in the US and fly to a US airport. So far, 386,000 people from these four countries have been admitted to the country under that program, according to data released Friday.
But Republicans have increasingly criticized the use of the app and humanitarian parole for circumventing the country’s immigration laws to allow people into the country who would otherwise be ineligible for admission.