Illegal border crossings continued to decrease in May. According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP), officials encountered 170,000 people total, including 117,000 between ports of entry. It is the lowest month of the 2024 fiscal year.
As a comparison, encounters hit their highest mark ever in December at 301,000. May’s numbers are 9,000 lower than April and 36,000 less than May 2023.
“Our enforcement efforts are continuing to reduce southwest border encounters,” Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said in a statement. “But the fact remains that our immigration system is not resourced for what we are seeing. The dedicated men and women of CBP will continue to prioritize national security and disrupt criminal networks, while maximizing consequences for unlawful entry, including detention, prosecution, and removal under recently announced executive actions to further secure the border.”
However, unless the numbers decrease even further, encounters remain on track to surpass 2 million for the third year in a row. President Joe Biden is the only president who saw more than 2 million crossings in a year.
“May’s numbers show that President Biden and impeached Secretary Mayorkas’ border crisis is never going to end as long as they are in charge,” House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., said in a statement. “Border Patrol apprehensions at the Southwest border were roughly four times what Obama-era DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson said ‘overwhelms the system.’”
These numbers, however, do not show the impact of the president’s June 4 executive order, which shuts down asylum claims when daily crossings surpass 2,500 per day. The order took effect immediately.
Once crossings are less than 1,500 per day for seven days in a row, the order is withdrawn. CBP said that since it took effect, there has been a 25% decrease in daily encounters.
CBS immigration reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez said the number of crossings on June 17 was 2,000, above the threshold to restart asylum claims.
There are also thousands of known “gotaways” every week, or people who evade apprehension. Fox News reporter Bill Melugin said the average over the last week has been 515 per day.