Current:Home > MarketsIllegal migration at the US border drops to lowest level since 2020. -Zenith Profit Hub
Illegal migration at the US border drops to lowest level since 2020.
View
Date:2025-04-17 02:53:14
Migrant apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border fell 75% in September from a year ago to the lowest level since the Trump administration, according to preliminary data obtained by USA TODAY.
The number of migrant encounters and apprehensions between ports of entry dropped below 54,000 in September, according to the preliminary data.
The decline puts U.S. Border Patrol on track to report roughly 1.5 million unlawful crossings in fiscal 2024, down from more than 2 million in fiscal 2023. The federal fiscal year runs October 1 to September 30.
On an annual basis, it would be the lowest level since fiscal 2020, when the Trump administration reported roughly 400,000 encounters and apprehensions amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. The last time monthly apprehensions and encounters fell below 50,000 was August 2020.
Migrant apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border first fell below half a million annually during the Obama administration, in 2010, and stayed under that level for the next eight years.
Apprehensions reached their low point for the era around 310,000 in 2017 during the first year of the Trump administration before they began climbing again. Under Trump, crossings rose in 2018 and surged in 2019 to more than 850,000, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The current decline in unlawful migration began earlier this year and accelerated in June, when the Biden administration used an executive order to restrict asylum access at the U.S.-Mexico border. At the same time, Mexico began an enforcement effort that has prevented many migrants from reaching the U.S. border.
Shifts in U.S. and Mexican border enforcement policies often lead to temporary declines in border crossings as migrants wait and see how policies will affect them, and smugglers evaluate how to poke holes in the system.
With the U.S. presidential election looming, the September level could represent a low water mark in illegal migration, said Adam Isaacson, director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America in Washington, D.C.
"At some point migrants and smugglers are going to figure out who the policies – like the asylum ban – hit the hardest and who doesn’t get hit at all," including populations that are difficult to deport, he said.
Lauren Villagran can be reached at [email protected].
veryGood! (7)
Related
- Bodycam footage shows high
- Former Colorado officer gets probation for putting woman in police vehicle that was hit by a train
- Relative of slain Black teen calls for white Kansas teen to face federal hate crime charges
- After castigating video games during riots, France’s Macron backpedals and showers them with praise
- McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- Drew Barrymore postpones her show’s new season launch until after the Hollywood strikes resolve
- Ashton Kutcher resigns from anti-child sex abuse nonprofit after supporting Danny Masterson
- The auto workers strike will drive up car prices, but not right away -- unless consumers panic
- Former Syrian official arrested in California who oversaw prison charged with torture
- Special counsel asks judge to limit Trump's inflammatory statements targeting individuals, institutions in 2020 election case
Ranking
- Paula Abdul settles lawsuit with former 'So You Think You Can Dance' co
- Snow, scorpions, Dr. Seuss: What Kenyan kids talked about with top U.S. kids' authors
- Maybe think twice before making an innocent stranger go viral?
- North Korean state media says Kim Jong Un discussed arms cooperation with Russian defense minister
- Meta releases AI model to enhance Metaverse experience
- College football Week 3 grades: Colorado State's Jay Norvell is a clown all around
- College football Week 3 highlights: Catch up on all the scores, best plays and biggest wins
- Incarcerated students win award for mental health solution
Recommendation
Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
Another nightmare for Tennessee at Florida as The Swamp remains its house of horrors
How dome homes can help protect against natural disasters
Search on for a missing Marine Corps fighter jet in South Carolina after pilot safely ejects
Why members of two of EPA's influential science advisory committees were let go
Cleveland Cavaliers executive Koby Altman charged with operating vehicle while impaired
Chinese police detain wealth management staff at the heavily indebted developer Evergrande
Photographer captures monkey enjoying a free ride on the back of a deer in Japanese forest