CBP Says 25 Percent Decline in Illegal Immigrants Since Asylum Restriction Order.

 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have reported a 25 percent reduction in apprehensions of illegal immigrants between ports of entry along the U.S.–Mexico border in the two weeks since the Biden administration imposed a cap on asylum eligibility.

 

President Joe Biden issued a proclamation on June 4 in which the restriction comes into effect whenever encounters with unlawful border crossers exceed an average of 2,500 per day over seven consecutive days. Above that and CBP agents can’t “deliver timely consequences.”

 

“This ban will remain in place until the number of people trying to enter illegally is reduced to a level that our system can effectively manage,” President Biden said at a news conference when announcing the measure.

The Department of Homeland Security and Attorney General Merrick Garland jointly issued an interim final rule restricting asylum eligibility and increasing the consequences for some illegal border crossers.

 

In its latest monthly report, the CBP cautioned that “migration flows are dynamic” and agents are prepared to deploy as the situation changes.

“Our enforcement efforts are continuing to reduce southwest border encounters,” CBP Acting Commissioner Troy A. Miller said in a statement on June 20.