Arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border fell by nearly 30 percent in June to the lowest level during President Biden’s administration, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Monday, as the president’s asylum restrictions took effect.
About 83,000 people were arrested at the border in June, CBP said, down from about 118,000 in May and the lowest level since January 2021.
The shift comes after Biden announced early last month that asylum processing would halt after 2,500 people were processed per day.
“Recent border security measures have made a meaningful impact on our ability to impose consequences for those crossing unlawfully,” acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said in a statement.
The seven-day average of border crossing encounters has fallen by more than 50 percent since the asylum policy change June 4 to about 1,900 per day, Miller added.
Under Biden’s border order, most migrants encountered between ports of entry are not screened for asylum claims, and they can be subject to quick expulsion to Mexico, accelerated deportation procedures to their home country, and criminal and administrative consequences.
CBP also announced Monday it has removed and returned more than 70,000 individuals to more than 170 countries since the order was announced. The total number of removals and returns this year is the highest of any year since 2010, the agency added.
The data could be a boon for Biden, as border crossings have taken center stage in the 2024 presidential election. The White House bashed Republicans late last month over failing to acknowledge the downward trend of crossings.
“Meanwhile, Republican officials twice blocked the toughest bipartisan border security deal in modern American history, siding with fentanyl traffickers, human smugglers, and — in their own words — Donald Trump, over the Border Patrol Union, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and border mayors from both parties who all endorsed the bipartisan agreement,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a statement.
He added, “President Biden will keep leading including by taking action to secure our border and by calling on Congressional Republicans to do their jobs and pass the bipartisan border security bill.”