Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said U.S.-Mexico border crossings have fallen “materially” since President Joe Biden signed an executive order limiting migrant asylum claims. Mayorkas told a group of Bloomberg reporters that U.S. border officials are seeing results and recorded 2,600 migrant encounters between ports of entry Sunday, June 16 — a major drop since the president announced the asylum changes.
According to the secretary, it was one of the lowest daily totals since Biden took office.
Biden’s executive order shut down asylum requests at the southern border when illegal crossings exceed 2,500 a day. Restrictions will be lifted once migrant encounters dip to 1,500 per day for a week.
According to Biden, the order was required because Congress wouldn’t act on immigration as the crisis grew and migrants from around the world sought access to the U.S.
A recent report from the Mexican government said nearly 1.4 million people from 177 countries traveled through Mexico to reach the U.S. from January through May.
Earlier this year, congressional Republicans blocked a bipartisan immigration deal because of opposition to the included $60 billion price tag in foreign aid for Ukraine and $14 billion in funding for Israel.
Meanwhile, U.S. officials continue to warn of fentanyl-related deaths due to drugs pouring over the southern border. Officials also warn of a rise in human smuggling, murders, sex trafficking and kidnappings related to Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, a transnational gang that’s made its way into the United States.
Homeland Security officials said earlier in June there are now more than 100 ongoing investigations involving suspected gang members. Border Patrol agents arrested 10 people with ties to the Venezuelan gang at the southern border in May alone.