A major crackdown by Mexican officials has helped reduce illegal southern border crossings by more than 50% since the record highs reported in December.
U.S. Border Patrol agents recorded a daily average of approximately 3,700 apprehensions of migrants between official ports of entry during the first three weeks of May, CBS News reported.
That’s a 54% decrease from the 8,000 daily average in December, when illegal entries soared to an all-time high 301,980 encounters, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics.
May also is on track to see the third consecutive month-over-month drop in unlawful border crossings.
The lower illegal crossings numbers remain higher than pre-pandemic levels.
The numbers don't include migrants processed at official border crossings, where the administration is admitting about 1,500 asylum-seekers daily.
Border expert Jaeson Jones says the administration is playing with the numbers because overall data shows a record 1.9 million encounters through the first seven months of the fiscal year.
The decrease in fewer illegal crossings is due, in part, to an aggressive crackdown on U.S.-bound migrants by the Mexican government, according to senior U.S. officials, CBS News reported.
NBC News reported last week that Mexican authorities had interdicted more than 280,000 migrants, nearly three times the number of early last year.
The New York Times reported that Mexico was using a busing program to transport migrants away from the border. The program is meant to appease the Biden administration, the report said.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, though, credited the Biden administration for the lower illegal crossing numbers.
In an interview with CBS News, Mayorkas claimed there have been a "number of actions that we have taken, not only strengthening our enforcement, not only attacking the smugglers, but also building lawful pathways that enable people who qualify for relief to reach the United States in a safe, orderly and legal way."
NBC News reported Thursday that the administration was finalizing details of a new executive action that would let the president temporarily shut the southern border to migrants during the presidential election year if necessary.
With hopes of unveiling that and other executive actions in June, the administration has been working with Mexico to get its cooperation on some key provisions, the outlet reported.
Any new policies likely would be announced after Mexico’s presidential election on June 2.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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