Thousands of migrants turned back at the border
TUCSON — U.S. border officials have turned away more than 20,000 migrants apprehended along the U.S.Mexico border since late March when President Donald Trump’s administration began a series of restrictions at the border aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19.
U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended and processed 15,862 migrants at the Southwestern U.S. border during April, according to monthly statistics U.S. Customs and Border Protection released Thursday.
The monthly tally is half March’s total and is the lowest monthly figure since May 2017, when Trump’s election resulted in a massive drop in the number of migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border.
This time, the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts to contain it are responsible for the drop in apprehensions, as well as the policy that has allowed U.S. border officials to turn back migrants at the border.
“The decrease in encounters means that we have less illegal migrants in our custody and that we are better able to manage our short-term holding facilities from a health perspective,” Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan said via Twitter about the decrease.
The U.S. and Mexican governments reached a deal to limit non-essential travel at the border starting March 21. As part of the restrictions, the U.S. decided it would immediately expel migrants, rather than take them into permanent facilities where they could be susceptible to an outbreak.
Border officials have turned away 20,860 migrants under the policy. That includes 6,444 migrants expelled in March and 14,416 migrants expelled in April, CBP statistics showed.
Apprehensions fell in all nine Border Patrol sectors at the U.S.-Mexico border during April. Single adults accounted for nearly 91% of all apprehensions that month, according to statistics. It’s a sharp reversal from a year ago, when families and minors accounted for more than two-thirds of migrants detained at the border.
In March, the U.S. government also stopped processing asylum seekers at legal border crossings, leaving stranded thousands of migrants who had been waiting for months.
As a result, the number of “inadmissibles” — migrants processed at ports of entry — fell drastically in April to a mere 997 migrants. For comparison, last April customs officers had processed more than 10,000 migrants at U.S.-Mexico border crossings.
Under an agreement with the Mexican government, Customs and Border Protection can immediately expel migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras to Mexico via the nearest border crossing.
Migrants from other countries are still processed and taken into custody until arrangements can be made to return them to their home countries.
In April, border agents took in a total of 1,446 migrants, meaning they were not immediately expelled to Mexico.
Morgan said Mexicans accounted for nearly 70% of all migrant apprehensions in April. But he added that more of them were making repeated attempts to cross illegally.
“We’re seeing a 25% recidivism rate, primarily Mexican nationals. Stay home to prevent exposing others to COVID-19,” he said.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced it would extend restrictions on non-essential travel at the U.S.-Mexico border until at least May 21.
The department also rescheduled all court hearings until June 1 for asylum seekers sent to Mexico to wait the outcome of their cases.