Unlawful southern border entries down 70% from record highs since end of Title 42

(WASHINGTON) — Unlawful entries along the southern border have decreased 70% from their record highs since the end of Title 42 on May 11, according the Department of Homeland Security.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol has averaged 3,400 encounters in between ports of entry per day and fewer than 300 non-CBP One Office of Field Operations (OFO) encounters at ports of entry per day, for a total of approximately 3,700 unscheduled encounters per day, according to statistics released by DHS Tuesday morning.

From May 12 to June 2, DHS repatriated over 38,400 noncitizens under Title 8 authorities, including single adults and families, to more than 80 countries. This includes over 1,400 noncitizens from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela who were returned to Mexico under Title 8 authorities — the first time in our bilateral history that the Mexican government has allowed the repatriation of non-Mexican nationals at the border under Title 8 authorities. The top three nationalities encountered during that time period were Mexican, Honduran and Venezuelan, which collectively accounted for 70% of the encounters per day, according to DHS.

The White House applauded the decrease.

“Political pundits and Republican lawmakers claimed we were unprepared for the end of Title 42. We proved them wrong,” tweeted White House Assistant Press Secretary Abdullah Hasan.

The CBP One app, which was rolled out by DHS as a hub offering a variety of CBP services, saw 1,070 noncitizens presented “in a safe and orderly manner at a port of entry each day to be processed during their scheduled appointment time,” DHS said. CBP has, as of June 1, expanded the number of appointments available to 1,250 each day.

But some Republicans have expressed skepticism of CBP One, saying the app is a vehicle that would allow mass migration.

“Abusing the CBP One App is the Biden admin’s newest tactic to funnel tens of thousands of illegal aliens into the country every month. House Republicans voted to bar DHS from exploiting the app & restore it back to its original intent,” Republicans on the House Committee on Homeland Security tweeted Monday.

The decrease comes as two top immigration officials have announced their departure from DHS. Chief of the Border Patrol Raul Ortiz told employees he was leaving at the end of June, and Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Tae Johnson is also retiring, according to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Total CBP enforcement actions for fiscal year 2023 are 1,246,371 year-to-date, according to CBP.