Illegal crossings fall near Mexico

WASHINGTON — Illegal border crossings from Mexico fell 14% in October from a month earlier, U.S. authorities said Tuesday, ending a threemonth streak of big increases.

U.S. officials highlighted the resumption of deportation flights to Venezuela Oct. 18, shortly after Venezuelans replaced Mexicans as the largest nationality appearing at the border. Arrests of Venezuelans plummeted 45% to 29,637 from 54,833, still second only to Mexicans.

Arrests for illegal crossings totaled 188,778 for all nationalities in October, down from 218,763 in September, which was the second-highest month on record. Arrests had more than doubled over the previous three months as migrants and smugglers adjusted to new asylum regulations introduced in May.

Arrests of Chinese rose slightly to 4,247, with 99% of them in the San Diego area, as more fly to Ecuador and make their way to the U.S. border amid a faltering economy at home.

“We continue to enhance our border security posture and remain vigilant,” said Troy Miller, the acting Customs commissioner, who urged Congress to approve President Joe Biden’s supplemental budget request for $13.6 billion in border-related spending.

While crossings remain unusually high, the monthly decline is a rare piece of welcome news for a White House that has been criticized on the right and left flanks for its immigration policies. Panama has yet to release October figures for crossings through the Darien jungle, which totaled more than 400,000 during the first nine months of the year, largely Venezuelans.