Arrests at the border drop 42 percent

Data shows dip fueled by fewer migrants from nations that were focus of Biden plan

WASHINGTON — Border arrests dropped more than 40 percent in January, reaching the lowest point in two years after the Biden administration launched a new plan to allow tens of thousands of asylumseekers into the United States each month, if they apply to do so from their home countries instead of crossing the border.

The data released Friday by Customs and Border Protection — the first since the plan went into place — reflects a decline in crossings that President Joe Biden has touted as evidence his approach is working, even as Texas and other Republican-led states are filing lawsuits to end it.

The agency reported 128,410 encounters with migrants between ports of entry in January, down 42 percent from 221,675 the month before. It marked the fewest apprehensions since February 2021.

The decline was driven by a major drop in encounters with migrants from the nations covered by the plan — Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, which fell 95 percent, according to CBP data. Encounters with those migrants between ports of entry declined from a seven-day average of 1,231 on Jan. 5 to just 59 on Jan. 31. The agency said the trend has held up so far through February.

Troy Miller, acting Border Patrol commissioner, said in a statement that the data “clearly illustrates that new border enforcement measures are working.”

The plan allows up to 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela to enter the U.S. each month, provided they apply for entry via a phone app from their home countries. The administration has said as many as 30,000 migrants from those countries who cross the border illegally will be turned back to Mexico each month under a new agreement, as well.

CBP said a total of 11,637 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans were paroled into the country in January.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, has said Biden’s border plan is not a real solution and “just artificially lowers the numbers.”

“They’ve taken 30,000 people and said, ‘OK, we’re going to make your entry into the country legal, so by definition it’s no longer illegal immigration’ by a wave of the magic wand,” Cornyn said this month. “In short, this new policy lets the administration roll out the welcome mat for tens of thousands of migrants, while making it seem like the numbers have actually gone down, which they have not.”

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is leading a lawsuit on behalf of Texas and 19 other red states, has argued that Biden overstepped his authority in creating the initiative and “effectively created a new visa program — without the formalities of legislation from Congress.”

The plan has also drawn criticism from the left, with members of Biden’s party and immigrant advocates say it is blocking many of those entitled to seek asylum in the U.S. from going to court to do so.

The unprecedented surge in migration at the border, where crossings surpassed 2 million for the first time last year, has been a stubborn political issue for Biden, with Republicans hammering the president for his handling of the situation virtually since he took office. House Republicans have launched an investigation aimed at laying the groundwork for a possible impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.