Illegal border crossings fell in July to lowest level in four years

Illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border dropped in July to the lowest levels in nearly four years, the latest indication that the Biden administration’s sweeping restrictions on asylum are reshaping migration trends, according to federal enforcement data released Friday.

Border agents tallied 56,408 illegal crossings in July, a 32% decline from June and the fifth straight month that the figure has fallen, U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows.

U.S. border officials attribute the change to executive actions Biden announced this spring that effectively shut off access to the U.S. asylum system for migrants who enter illegally. The Mexican government has also tightened enforcement this year at the Biden administration’s behest, arresting record numbers of migrants attempting to transit the country en route to the U.S. border.

The July border numbers were released as immigration remains a central issue in the presidential election, which is less than three months away.

On the campaign trail, Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, has assailed former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump’s immigration record and criticized Republicans for walking away from a bipartisan bill this year that would have invested billions in immigration and border enforcement.

Republicans have tried to label Harris a “border czar” and hold her responsible for the record numbers of apprehensions at the border under the Biden administration. She held a narrower role that sought to improve conditions in northern Central America so that would-be migrants would stay home.

Border apprehensions averaged more than 2 million per year during Biden’s first three years in office. In December, U.S. agents tallied 249,740 crossings, an all-time high for a single month.

But since then, monthly crossings have plunged 77%, CBP data shows.

On Friday, the White House cheered the significant decline in illegal entries and said the latest numbers showed the administration’s policies were working even without the GOP’s help.

White House spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández said Republican lawmakers “are more interested in cynically playing politics than securing the border.”

“The Biden-Harris Administration has taken effective action, and Republicans continue to do nothing,” he said in a statement.

In early June, Biden announced new measures to block migrants’ access to the U.S. asylum system when illegal border crossings are at emergency levels – above an average of 2,500 a day – and the restrictions took effect immediately.

Since then, federal agents have deported more than 92,000 people to more than 130 countries and sharply reduced the number of people who are released pending a court hearing. Officials say the declines spanned all demographics, including families, unaccompanied minors and adults traveling on their own.

Border crossings have historically declined during summer months, but in recent years, migration trends have been tied more closely to changes in U.S. enforcement policies.

Some of the busiest months at the border during Biden’s term have occurred during peak summer heat, CBP data shows.

The Biden administration says it has sought to restore order on the southern border by punishing illegal crossings while expanding programs, known as “parole,” that have allowed hundreds of thousands of people to seek to enter the United States legally on commercial flights. Once here, migrants can work legally and apply for asylum or another way to stay in the United States.

Republicans have accused the Biden administration of abusing the parole authority to admit migrants who might otherwise attempt to enter illegally, making the apprehension numbers appear lower.

Critics say many of the migrants arriving on parole are unlikely to be deported if they cannot find a way to stay permanently.

Rep. Mark Green (R-Tenn.), chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said the July numbers are misleading because the administration is directing would-be border crossers to parole programs that allow them to travel to the United States as long as they have a U.S. sponsor.

One of the largest programs, for Venezuelans, Cubans, Haitians and Nicaraguans, was paused this summer amid reports of fraud, including claims that U.S. sponsors were applying to bring in migrants using fake or stolen Social Security numbers.

“This administration is orchestrating a massive shell game, encouraging otherwise-inadmissible aliens to cross at ports of entry instead of between them – thereby creating a facade of improved optics for the administration, but in reality imposing a growing burden on our communities,” Green said in a statement.

Biden administration officials also have granted some opportunities to undocumented immigrants who have lived in the United States for years.

On Monday, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will begin taking applications for residency from the undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens who have lived in the United States for a decade or more, and their immigrant children. An estimated 500,000 immigrants and 50,000 stepchildren of U.S. citizens are expected to be eligible to apply for the new program.