Southern border migrant encounters dip below 100K
WASHINGTON — The number of migrants encountered by U.S. authorities at the southern border has dropped below 100,000 for the first time in five months amid increased collaboration with Mexico and Guatemala to crack down on the flow, according to government data released Thursday.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered 82,049 people in July, down 21 percent from June, when it encountered 104,344 people, and down 43 percent from May. The number of families and minors crossing the border also dropped.
The monthly numbers have become a yardstick by which President Donald Trump measures the success of his administration’s efforts to reduce immigration, his signature issue.
Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin Mcaleenan traveled to a border town — Yuma, Arizona — on Thursday to detail the border numbers. He said that in mid-june there were more than 1,250 children in custody for 72 hours or longer, but that had dropped to about 160 children by Wednesday, with an average custody time of fewer than 24 hours.
There had been about 10,000 families in custody, but now there are 2,000, and they are held about 34 hours, he said. Single adults in custody are down from 8,000 to about 2,000. He did not provide the length of detention for single adults, who are often held the longest.
He stressed the reduction did not mean the border crisis had ended.
“The situation is improving by every available metric, but, and I want to be very clear about this, we remain at and beyond crisis levels,” Mcaleenan said.