The number of migrant encounters at the southern border fell from a record 251,000 in December to about 150,000 in January, multiple sources told Fox News — a number that would mark the lowest month since February 2021.
Fox was told there were about 130,000 apprehensions by the Border Patrol between ports of entry. Combined with encounters at ports of entry, the total for January is expected to be around 150,000, sources said.
This would be the lowest number since February 2021, when there were just 101,000 matches after January with just 78,000 matches. The numbers grew rapidly thereafter and have remained at historic highs ever since, with more than 1.7 million encounters in FY21 and 2.3 million in FY22. In January 2022, there were 154,874 bouts – the lowest in FY2022.
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Illegal immigrants gather near the US-Mexico border fence in El Paso, Texas on December 22, 2022. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
Although January is usually one of the quieter months at the border, the latest figures mark a sharp drop from the more than 251,000 reported in December, which was a new record. Meanwhile, sources said the number of “getaways” — illegal immigrants who slipped past agents — fell to 48,200, down from 70,000+ in recent months.
The Biden administration has previously noted signs that statistics were tracking lower in January than in December, directly linking it to President Biden’s border measures earlier in the month. Biden announced that a humanitarian parole program for Venezuela would be expanded to include Nicaraguans, Cubans, and Haitians if they did not cross illegally, have a prior sponsor in the U.S. and others. 30,000 per month if they fulfill the conditions.
It also expanded Title 42 exclusions to include those nationalities, as well as introduced a new rule that would bar immigrants from claiming asylum in the United States if they arrived in a third country without claiming asylum there. passed through
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Since then, preliminary January numbers show a 97 percent drop in encounters among those four nationalities, the Department of Homeland Security said. The agency said comparisons across the four countries had dropped from an average of 3,367 a day in December to just 115 a day in January, citing the figures as evidence that the measures were working.
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The border measures were controversial with both the left and the right. Immigration activists claimed that these measures violated the right to claim asylum. Meanwhile, 20 Republican states filed a lawsuit claiming the parole program violates a congressional mandate that says parole can only be used “on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or substantial public benefit.” What to do.”
Republicans have been targeting the Biden administration over the crisis, linking the increase to administration policies — notably limiting domestic enforcement, calling for amnesty for illegal immigrants and Trump-era border closures. Abolition of Reservations.
However, the Biden administration and Democrats have accused Republicans of withholding funding and failing to pass an immigration reform bill that Democrats have presented as a solution to the crisis — but which Republicans have called illegal immigration. Rejected due to citizenship pathway.
White House spokesman Ian Sams said that “on top of a comprehensive immigration reform bill he introduced on the first day of his administration – which has been blocked by congressional Republicans – President Biden has sought to address these issues.” has taken action on a plan – and it’s working”. In a memo Tuesday.
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