Border arrests increase for first time since summer
Apprehensions at the southwest U.S. border rose last month for the first time since July, with across-the-board increases in the detention of migrant families, single adults and minors traveling without their parents, according to preliminary U.S. Customs and Border Protection data obtained by the Washington Post.
CBP made more than 173,600 arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border in November, a more than 5 percent increase from the month before and the largest influx for that month in years, according to the unpublished numbers. The increase is driven by sharp increases in arrivals from Venezuela, which smashed the record set in October, as well as steady arrivals from Cuba, parts of Central America and Mexico.
Apprehensions remain well below the 213,000 taken into custody in July, and some people were probably arrested more than once as they attempted to cross.
Approximately half of those arrested were expelled to their native countries or to Mexico under a pandemic public health order that President Joe Biden has held over from the Trump administration. But outcomes varied sharply by group. Almost all unaccompanied minors and most family members apprehended were allowed into the
United States; it remains unclear how many were then released from custody to pursue their immigration cases.
Two-thirds of the 114,100 adults traveling solo were expelled under the order, issued under Title 42 of the public health code, the data shows. CBP, which generally does not comment on unpublished data, did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
The latest numbers show the Biden administration is still facing significant political and humanitarian challenges at the southwest border, after apprehending a record 1.7 million migrants in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
Thousands of migrants from Latin America and the Caribbean are attempting to enter the United States to seek asylum or work, and the White House is navigating public criticism over its approach to the border. Biden has said he wants to build a more humane immigration system, but he also has said he does not want “2 million people” massing at the border.
Texas and other GOP-led states have filed lawsuits demanding that the Biden administration arrest and expel migrants. They won a major victory this year when a federal judge ordered the Department of Homeland Security to restart the “Migrant Protection Protocols” program, which requires asylum-seekers to await their asylum hearings in Mexico.