The number of illegal migrants crossing the U.S. southern border continued to drop sharply in July, approaching the threshold that officials would need to lift. partial ban on asylum claims filed by President Biden, according to internal government data obtained by CBS News.
July is on track to see the fifth consecutive monthly decline in migrant arrivals along the US-Mexico border and the lowest level of illegal immigration. immigration there since the fall of 2020, during the Trump administration, internal figures of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
In early June, President Biden called on the president’s far-reaching authority to suspend the entry of most migrants who enter the U.S. illegally, effectively shutting down access to America’s asylum system outside of official ports of entry.
Illegal border crossings — which had already fallen before Mr. Biden’s actions — spiked after the order took effect, he said less than three years in June.
But the DHS regulation implementing Mr. Biden’s proclamation states that the asylum crackdown will be lifted if the average of 7 days of migrant detention per day between ports of entry drops to 1,500.
As of last week, the average daily illegal crossing counted in the regulation’s calculations was about 1,650, according to internal DHS figures. The calculation, as provided by the regulations, does not include crossings by unaccompanied minors who are not from Mexico. The children usually live in government-run shelters until they turn 18 or are placed with US-based sponsors, as mandated by the 2008 anti-trafficking law.
If the daily average of 7 illegal crossings reaches 1,500, the regulation says, Mr. Biden’s asylum proclamation will be “suspended 14 days after” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas makes a “factual determination” about the threshold reached.
“The department has determined that the 1,500-encounter threshold is a reasonable proxy when the border security and immigration system is not over capacity and the measures taken in this rule are not necessary to address that situation,” the regulation said.
Asylum restrictions may remain in place
While illegal border crossings are close to the threshold of killing 1,500, it is possible to stay above that number, so that the ban on asylum is partial. And even if the 1,500 trigger has been reached, Mr. Biden’s proclamation will be reinstated if the 7-day average of illegal crossings per day rises to 2,500.
A senior U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official said the agency does not expect the partial ban on asylum requests to be reversed soon, noting that illegal crossings appear to be plateauing.
“We’re not at a place where we’ve been a day … or a day away from below 1,500,” the official told CBS News.
But the official admitted that it could reach 1,500 triggers and confirmed that there are internal plans and preparations for such an event.
If Mr. Biden’s proclamation is delayed, the official said, CBP would still pursue the migrants in the expedited deportation process, rather than releasing them with notices to appear in immigration court. Other Biden administration asylum restrictions that apply to people who have not sought refuge in a third country before crossing into the US will also remain in place.
Dramatic changes at the border
With an overall average of about 1,800 migrant arrivals per day so far in July, the Border Patrol is on pace to record fewer than 60,000 migrant arrivals this month, the lowest level since September 2020, according to unpublished DHS data. On average, unlike those used in the calculation of asylum regulations, all unaccompanied children are included.
The current situation on the southern border represents a dramatic change from late last year, when illegal crossings rose to a quarter of a million in December, a monthly high. After signing the record, the Mexican government, at the request of US officials, launched an operation to prevent migrants from reaching American soil.
Immigration experts credit the Mexican government’s migration crackdown with a key role in the steady decline in migrant crossings recorded by American officials this year. Temperatures in the southern US are also rising in the summer, making migration journeys more dangerous.
But US officials say Mr Biden’s move to partially close the asylum process has led to an acute drop in illegal crossings. As it makes it easier for U.S. officials to deport more migrants, the proclamation reduces releases that authorities consider a factor that encourages migration.
However, not everyone was deported quickly. Some groups, such as unaccompanied minors, medically vulnerable migrants and those securing an appointment for processing at a legal point of entry, are exempt from the partial asylum ban. Some migrants disqualified from asylum under the policy are also still allowed to stay because the US does not carry out regular deportations to their countries of origin due to diplomatic and logistical constraints.
Progressive advocacy groups strongly criticized Mr. Biden’s asylum action, and the American Civil Liberties Union. they are arguing in federal court that the policy violates US and international refugee law.
Theresa Cardinal Brown, a senior adviser at the Bipartisan Policy Center and a former government immigration official under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, said the legality of Mr. Biden’s actions “is still an outstanding question.” But he said the drop in releases under the policy is affecting migrants’ decisions, at least in the short term.
“If a sufficient number, not necessarily everyone, but a sufficient number of people are not allowed to enter, wait and successfully enter, it sends a signal again,” he said.