Migrant arrivals rose to a record high in December, before a border tightening was announced

Washington. The number of migrants processed by US authorities along the southern border soared to a monthly high in December before President Biden announced tougher enforcement measures that reduced illegal entries, government data released Friday showed.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials at the U.S.-Mexico border processed migrants 251,487 times last month, up 7% from November, thanks to record arrivals of migrants from Cuba and Nicaragua, according to agency statistics. The previous monthly record was set in May 2022 when the CBP recorded over 241,000 migrant encounters along the southern border.

But the sharp increase in illegal border crossings in December came before the Biden administration launched an updated migration plan that combines increased removal of those who enter the US illegally with expanded opportunities for vulnerable asylum seekers and migrants with US sponsors. to enter the country legally. .

Since the measures were announced in early January, the number of migrants detained along the Mexican border has dropped sharply. Border Patrol currently detains about 4,000 migrants a day on average, down 40% from the December average, a senior Homeland Security official told CBS News on Friday, asking for anonymity to share inside data.

However, the record number of migrant detentions in December, a month when migration flows have historically been lower than during warmer periods of the year, illustrates an unprecedented migration crisis along the southern border, where migrants are arriving in larger numbers and from more countries than in more warm periods of the year. ever before.

The extraordinary migration event was primarily driven by record arrivals of migrants from countries outside of Mexico and the Northern Triangle of Central America, which were the main sources of illegal migration to the US prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In December, US officials along the Mexican border recorded 42,637 encounters with Cubans and 35,389 encounters with Nicaraguans, a record monthly high for both nationalities. By contrast, U.S. border guards processed migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador almost 33,000 times last month.

In late December, U.S. border officials prepared to lift a pandemic-era rule known as Section 42 that allowed them to quickly remove some migrants without giving them the opportunity to claim asylum. But the Supreme Court has suspended the termination of Section 42 by a lower court while it considers a request from Republican-led states that want Trump-era policies to continue.

As part of a strategy introduced by Mr. Biden in early January, the US announced that Mexico had agreed to accept 30,000 monthly return migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who tried to cross the US border illegally. Previously, Mexican officials generally only accepted the return of Section 42 migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador.

The Biden administration has pledged to accept up to 30,000 Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan migrants simultaneously per month and give them access to work permits if they have US sponsors willing to support their arrival. Officials also announced that vulnerable migrants in Mexico can make appointments through a mobile app to request entry into the US at ports of entry along the southern border.

In December, US border officials carried out 49,405 Section 42 removals, representing only 20% of all migrant encounters in the past month. That percentage, however, could change in January as Mexico has since accepted the return of additional Section 42 migrant nationals expelled by the U.S.

Migrants who have not been expelled are treated under normal immigration law, allowing them to claim asylum. Adult migrants and their families may be detained, deported through a process known as expedited removal, or released to the US with court notice or instructions to register with federal officials at their respective destinations. Unaccompanied children are usually transferred to state-run shelters.

Encounters with migrants do not represent individual migrants, as some of them attempt to cross the US border several times after being deported to Mexico. In December, 14% of migrants processed along the southern border had previously been stopped by US immigration officials in the past 12 months, according to CBP data.

Moreover, not all migrants enter the US illegally between legal ports of entry. In December, US border officials processed 23,025 asylum seekers who were found vulnerable at ports of entry under Section 42 humanitarian exemptions, according to government data presented in federal court.

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