Number of illegal border crossings from Mexico to US falls to four-year low

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released new data on August 16 showing that there were 56,408 illegal border crossings at the US-Mexico border in July, down 32% from June and down 57% from July 2023. This is also the fifth consecutive month of decline, according to The Washington Post .

Border crossing apprehensions averaged more than 2 million per year during the first three years of President Joe Biden’s term. In December 2023, US officials counted 249,740, a record monthly total. Since then, however, monthly apprehensions have dropped 77%.

Barbed wire fence at the US-Mexico border on August 14.

The White House welcomed the new figures, saying they showed the administration's policies were working.

The figures come as immigration remains a central issue in the US presidential election in November.

Republicans have sought to blame Vice President Kamala Harris for record-high border arrests during the Biden administration.

Meanwhile, Ms. Harris criticized former President Donald Trump, her upcoming election opponent, as well as the Republican Party for not cooperating on a bill to invest billions of dollars in law enforcement at the border.

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Border officials credit the new results to President Biden’s executive actions this spring that made it harder for illegal immigrants to seek asylum in the U.S. Mexican authorities have also tightened controls this year, apprehending a record number of migrants trying to cross the country to the U.S. border.

"The numbers have definitely gone down significantly," US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told USA Today . "There's more than one reason for that. There's a number of different things that we've done and others have done."

He outlined measures including opening new legal pathways for immigrants to the United States in an orderly manner, applying measures to deal with illegal border crossers, tightening asylum applications, and engaging diplomatically with Mexico, Guatemala, Panama and Colombia to strengthen border management and humanitarian assistance programs.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/so-nguoi-vuot-bien-lau-tu-mexico-sang-my-xuong-muc-thap-nhat-trong-4-nam-185240817104539897.htm