Migrant arrivals at the southern border rose 7% in February from the previous month, but U.S. immigration officials also increased deportations, expelling more than half of those in government custody through issued rules. for the first time under the Trump administration, according to Customs and Border Protection. CBP) data released Tuesday.
U.S. border authorities recorded 164,973 migrant arrests last month, compared to January’s 153,941 arrests, CBP figures show. The expulsions of migrants under a restriction of the pandemic era set in 2020 increased by 17% to 91,513, representing 55% of all border encounters in February.
The increase in arrests of immigrants on the border with Mexico was largely driven by a significant increase in arrivals of migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba and Colombia, as well as a higher number of arrests of detainees. single adults, many of whom are attempting to enter the U.S. illegally. times after being expelled.
CBP prosecuted single adult migrants 126,151 times last month, 11% more than in January. But officials also saw a 16 percent drop in family arrivals, processing 26,582 migrant parents and children traveling together. In February, just over 12,000 unaccompanied children entered US border custody, a slight increase from January.
Detentions of Mexican migrants rose 18% to 71,210 in February, while arrivals of Guatemalans rose 31% to 18,175. Cubans and Colombians reached the U.S. border in record numbers, surpassing the records of some Central American countries. Some 16,500 migrants from Cuba and 9,600 from Colombia came into US custody.
CBP officials also prosecuted 13,887 migrants from Honduras, 13,295 from Nicaragua and 7,116 from El Salvador, according to agency statistics.
The increase in arrivals of some nations offset a monthly drop of 86% in the number of Venezuelans entering US border custody. U.S. immigration officials prosecuted 22,779 Venezuelan migrants in January and 24,805 in December, a record high monthly. In February, that number plummeted to 3,012.
The sharp drop in Venezuelan arrivals at the southern border coincides with the Mexican government’s decision in January to impose visa requirements on Venezuelans at the request of the United States Last year, Mexico also ended visa-free travel for citizens. of Ecuador and Brazil, fueling a decline in U.S. arrests of migrants from those countries that flew to Mexico City before reaching the southern border.
CBP numbers released on Tuesday show that the Biden administration has used the Trump-era border expulsion policy, known as Title 42, to deport migrants more than 1.2 million times in 13 months.
Title 42 policy, first approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in March 2020, has led to an unusually high rate of repeated border crossings as some migrants attempt to enter the U.S. several times after being driven north. Mexico.
In February, 30% of migrants who crossed the border illegally had been previously prosecuted by U.S. border officials for the past 12 months, a rate significantly higher than the 14% pre-pandemic recurrence rate.
Because immigrants prosecuted under Title 42 are returned to Mexico or transported to their countries of origin without being allowed to seek asylum, advocates for asylum seekers have described the policy as illegal. . But the Biden administration has said it is necessary to curb COVID-19 outbreaks at border detention facilities.
The decision of the Biden administration to continue with the expulsions has been subject to increasing legal scrutiny and vocal criticism of the top Democrats in Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who last week called Title 42 “disastrous” for asylum seekers.
Earlier this month, the administration’s Title 42 plans suffered two legal defeats when a federal appeals court in Washington, DC, barrat the expulsion of migrant families to places where they could be harmed, and a judge in Texas dit officials could no longer exempt unaccompanied children from expulsions.
In response to this latest ruling, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky revoked its Title 42 guidelines as applied to unaccompanied children, saying their expulsions were unnecessary due to widespread vaccine availability, testing, and improved pandemic conditions.
The Washington Federal Court of Appeals ruling has not yet come into force. If it is maintained, it would require U.S. officials to interview migrant families to ensure that they will not be persecuted if they are deported, a prospect that could lead the administration to reduce – or even end the title. .
The CDC is expected to complete an ongoing reassessment of Title 42 by the end of March to determine whether U.S. border agents should continue to deport migrant adults and families traveling with children.
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