The number of unlawful crossings by migrants at the US southern border has declined for the fifth consecutive month, according to official data.
US Border Patrol agents apprehended approximately 56,000 migrants along the border in July, the lowest number recorded since September 2020, as reported by CBS News, a partner of the BBC. This figure is significantly down from the approximately 250,000 migrants apprehended in December.
The Biden administration attributes the decrease to recent measures taken to address illegal immigration, which is a political vulnerability for the Democrats in an election year. “This is the product of a number of actions this administration has taken,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a CBS interview.
Among these actions is an executive order signed by President Joe Biden last month, allowing US immigration officials to deport migrants without processing their asylum claims. This measure, considered one of the most restrictive border policies by a Democratic president in recent times, has faced criticism from left-wing members of the party.
President Biden asserted that his executive order would “help us gain control of our border”. He added that “doing nothing is not an option”.
Government data shows that the number of migrants stopped at the US-Mexico border had dropped even before the order.
Border Patrol recorded 141,000 apprehensions in February, 137,000 in March, 129,000 in April, 118,000 in May and 84,000 in June.
The figures do not include official border crossings, where the Biden administration has been processing around 1,500 migrants each day through a smartphone app that schedules appointments between migrants and US border agents.
On the other side of the border, Mexican officials have also been working to curb illegal migration, including stopping people before they attempt to cross on to US soil.
The southern border has been a political headache for the Biden administration heading into November’s election.
Mr Biden has been repeatedly criticised by Republicans and their party’s presidential nominee, Donald Trump, who said last month that the president had “surrendered our southern border.”
The president hit back, accusing the Trump camp of an “extremely cynical political move” by pressuring Republican lawmakers to block a proposed border plan in Congress earlier this year.
