Administration officials said Wednesday that the number of people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally has dropped by 40% since President Joe Biden made it harder for people to get refuge earlier this month.
New data shows that following border actions I announced in June, encounters between ports are down significantly, with unlawful crossings lower than in July 2019.
— President Biden (@POTUS) August 16, 2024
While we are taking action – Congressional Republicans twice voted against more resources for border security.
There are now less than 2,400 crosses every day. It hasn’t been that low since January 17, 2021, right before the president took office. But the number of encounters is still too high for the president’s new restrictions to be lifted. Migrants will not be able to seek protection between ports of entry until the average number of crossings has dropped below 1,500 for seven days in a row.
Here are some comments about the post:
You're not even allowed at Kamalas rally. Why are you still posting?
— aka (@akafacehots) August 16, 2024
Here's why the Republicans voted down Mayorkas( impeached) border bill, it doesnt help anything. Quit lying to Americans shit stain. HR2 has been sitting on Schumers desk for over a year. THE DEMOCRATS ARE THE PROBLEM! pic.twitter.com/P7pXR1EtT5
— Paratrooper Brady 🇺🇲 (@82ndairborneBT) August 16, 2024
Your Administration has THE WORST Migration Encounters Numbers in U.S. History…
— TPB 🇺🇲 (@TheClassicPhil) August 16, 2024
Maybe people would take y'all more seriously if you didn't wait nearly 4 Years before taking action! 🤷♂️💯🔥🇺🇲 pic.twitter.com/ozvNheW4kJ
Before the drop, the White House talked up the president’s new policy and how well it was working. They also blamed Republicans and Donald Trump for stopping legislative efforts to deal with the overcrowded border.
The new numbers for crossing the border come before the presidential debate on Thursday night. During the debate, the two candidates are likely to argue about immigration, which is a big problem for voters before November.
The fact that the administration is bringing these numbers to light shows that Biden and his team are confident that the new policy will help stop the attacks from Republicans. People in the US think the GOP will handle border security better, according to polls. But Biden’s campaign has put a lot of weight on the idea that he moved while his opponents hesitated.
“President Biden will continue to lead,” White House senior deputy press secretary Andrew Bates wrote in a memo Wednesday morning. “President Biden will do this by taking action to secure our border and by calling on Congress Republicans to do their jobs and pass the bipartisan border security bill.”
Early in June, the president put in place new rules on asylum that partly closed the border to people who were trying to get asylum. With the new rule from the Justice and Homeland Security offices, the Biden administration could quickly remove some migrants from the U.S. These refugees could also be charged with crimes and be banned from entering the country for five years.
DHS said that since the president’s executive orders, it had been in charge of more than 100 flights that took more than 24,000 people back to their home countries. The department said that the number of migrants taken straight from the care of the Border Patrol has doubled.
The government also said that since the president’s announcement, the number of people caught crossing the border and then released until their court date has dropped by 65 percent. This is called “catch and release.”
It’s not clear if the slower crosses will last for another few weeks or months. Outside groups have also sued to stop the new rules, which puts them in some legal danger.
The government says that the drop is because of the new policy, but it is common for encounters to go down after a big policy change and then slowly rise again. Border crossings also went down in the weeks and months before Biden’s new policy because Mexican authorities tightened the rules on their side of the border.
“What our employees have done in such a short amount of time is truly impressive.” However, it is very important to keep in mind that the president’s action is being fought in court. By executive order, we can’t give the Department of Homeland Security all the resources it needs. And bipartisan legislation in the Senate would have given a lot of long-lasting relief that executive moves can’t, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said on MSNBC.
