The U.S.-Mexico border has seen a marked decrease in the number of migrants apprehended by federal authorities in June, with figures dropping to the lowest since January 2021, the month President Joe Biden assumed office. In a recent reveal by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Texas apprehensions dipped by approximately 32%, from 45,139 in May to 30,771 in June. Along the entire southern border, a drop from May’s 117,901 to June’s 83,536 was recorded, signaling a significant downward trend. This information is according to a report by The Texas Tribune.
While the numbers began to steadily decline earlier in the year, the decrease became more pronounced following the June 5th implementation of an executive order by President Biden, which widely sought to restrict the granting of asylum, excepting unaccompanied minors and those who manage to secure an appointment with U.S. officials through a phone application. "Recent border security measures have made a meaningful impact on our ability to impose consequences for those crossing unlawfully," said acting CBP Commissioner Troy A. Miller. It has been suggested that migrants might now be adopting a "wait and see" posture in response to the new asylum policy.
Despite these changes, analysts suggest that the drop in migrants is influenced by a confluence of factors that span beyond U.S. border policy. The Mexican government's efforts have been highlighted for contributing to the decreased numbers. According to Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy director at the American Immigration Council, "It’s a sign that a lot of this is down to Mexico’s actions in preventing migrants from getting to the border in the first place," he told The Texas Tribune.
Within Texas itself, the state shares a 1,250 mile-border with Mexico and had been proportionally accounting for a majority of migrant encounters along the southwest border. Operations such as Operation Lone Star, a state-funded border mission which began in March 2021, have been credited by Governor Greg Abbott for the decrease in numbers. However, experts like Reichlin-Melnick urge caution in attributing this trend to any single initiative, stating, "The most important thing to understand is the unpredictability of all of this. A lot of the times, things that seem to work on paper or that do work for a few months begin breaking down due to resource constraints, diplomatic limitations or simply the fact that we live in a changing world," in an interview with The Texas Tribune.
