Current:Home > MarketsIllegal migration at the US border drops to lowest level since 2020. -TrueNorth Capital Hub
Illegal migration at the US border drops to lowest level since 2020.
View
Date:2025-04-13 11:18:25
Migrant apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border fell 75% in September from a year ago to the lowest level since the Trump administration, according to preliminary data obtained by USA TODAY.
The number of migrant encounters and apprehensions between ports of entry dropped below 54,000 in September, according to the preliminary data.
The decline puts U.S. Border Patrol on track to report roughly 1.5 million unlawful crossings in fiscal 2024, down from more than 2 million in fiscal 2023. The federal fiscal year runs October 1 to September 30.
On an annual basis, it would be the lowest level since fiscal 2020, when the Trump administration reported roughly 400,000 encounters and apprehensions amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. The last time monthly apprehensions and encounters fell below 50,000 was August 2020.
Migrant apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border first fell below half a million annually during the Obama administration, in 2010, and stayed under that level for the next eight years.
Apprehensions reached their low point for the era around 310,000 in 2017 during the first year of the Trump administration before they began climbing again. Under Trump, crossings rose in 2018 and surged in 2019 to more than 850,000, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The current decline in unlawful migration began earlier this year and accelerated in June, when the Biden administration used an executive order to restrict asylum access at the U.S.-Mexico border. At the same time, Mexico began an enforcement effort that has prevented many migrants from reaching the U.S. border.
Shifts in U.S. and Mexican border enforcement policies often lead to temporary declines in border crossings as migrants wait and see how policies will affect them, and smugglers evaluate how to poke holes in the system.
With the U.S. presidential election looming, the September level could represent a low water mark in illegal migration, said Adam Isaacson, director for defense oversight at the Washington Office on Latin America in Washington, D.C.
"At some point migrants and smugglers are going to figure out who the policies – like the asylum ban – hit the hardest and who doesn’t get hit at all," including populations that are difficult to deport, he said.
Lauren Villagran can be reached at lvillagran@usatoday.com.
veryGood! (47522)
Related
- Bodycam footage shows high
- Another Chinese spy balloon? Taiwan says it's spotted one flying over the region
- Northeast under wind, flood warnings as large storm passes
- Asia lags behind pre-pandemic levels of food security, UN food agency says
- Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
- Worried your kid might have appendicitis? Try the jump test
- At 90, I am finally aging, or so everyone is telling me. I guess that's OK.
- Why protests at UN climate talks in UAE are not easy to find
- Paige Bueckers vs. Hannah Hidalgo highlights women's basketball games to watch
- Justin Jefferson injury update: Vikings WR released from hospital, travels home with team
Ranking
- Bill Belichick's salary at North Carolina: School releases football coach's contract details
- Fire breaks out in an encampment of landless workers in Brazil’s Amazon, killing 9
- NFL’s Tony Romo Refers to Taylor Swift as Travis Kelce’s “Wife” During Chiefs Game
- Person of interest taken into custody in killing of Detroit synagogue leader Samantha Woll
- Brianna LaPaglia Reveals The Meaning Behind Her "Chickenfry" Nickname
- Embattled wolves gain a new frontier in Democratic Colorado. The move is stoking political tensions
- Kate Cox can't get abortion for now, Texas Supreme Court court says, halting judge's OK
- Winding down from a long day's work by playing lottery on her phone, Virginia woman wins big
Recommendation
B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
Mortgage rates are dropping. Is this a good time to buy a house?
Kate Cox can't get abortion for now, Texas Supreme Court court says, halting judge's OK
Holiday crowds at airports and on highways are expected to be even bigger than last year
This was the average Social Security benefit in 2004, and here's what it is now
Alana Honey Boo Boo Thompson and Family Honor Anna Chickadee Caldwell After Her Death at 29
White House OMB director Shalanda Young says it's time to cut a deal on national security
At 90, I am finally aging, or so everyone is telling me. I guess that's OK.