Border arrests are expected to rise slightly in August, hinting 5-month drop may have bottomed out
SAN DIEGO — Officials say the number of arrests for illegal border crossings from Mexico will rise slightly in August compared to July, likely ending a five-month streak of declines.
Authorities have made about 54,000 arrests through Thursday, which, at the current pace, would bring the August total to about 58,000 when the month ends Saturday, two U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss information that has not been made public.
The count shows the number of arrests may have hit a low after halving from a record 250,000 in December, a decline that U.S. officials expect. largely attributed to the Mexican authorities increasing enforcement within their borders. Arrests were again cut by more than half after Democratic President Joe Biden invoked his authority to temporarily suspend asylum processing in June. Arrests fell to 56,408 in July, a 46-month low that was barely changed in August.
Asked for the latest numbers, the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement from Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas urging Congress to support the failed legislation, which would, among other things, suspend the processing of asylum claims when border crossings meet certain thresholds, reform the way asylum claims are processed to relieve overcrowded immigration courts, and create Border Patrol agents.
Republicans, including presidential candidate Donald Trump, opposed the bill, calling it insufficient.
“Thanks to the actions of the Biden-Harris administration, the hard work of our DHS staff, and our partnerships with other countries in the region and around the world, we continue to see the lowest number of encounters at our southwest border since September 2020,” Mayorkas said Saturday.
The sharp decline from last year’s highs is welcome news for the White House and Democratic nominee for White House, Vice President Kamala Harris, despite criticism from many immigration advocates that asylum restrictions go too far and those who favor tougher enforcement and believe Biden’s new and expanded legal powers to challenge the law are far too generous.
More than 765,000 people entered the United States legally through the end of July using an online appointment app called CBP One, and another 520,000 from four nationalities were admitted through airports with financial sponsors. The airport offerings for people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela — all nationalities that are difficult to deport — were temporarily suspended in July to address concerns about fraud by U.S. financial sponsors.
San Diego again had the most arrests Among the Border Patrol’s nine sectors on the Mexican border in August, El Paso, Texas, and Tucson, Arizona, followed, though the three busiest corridors were close, officials said. Arrests of Colombians and Ecuadorians declined, which officials attributed to deportation flights to those South American countries. Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras were the top three nationalities.