Border arrests drop 40% after Biden suspends asylum process

TUCSON, Arizona — The number of arrests for illegal border crossings has fallen by more than 40% during the three-week suspension of asylum proceedings, the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday.

The announcement comes just one day before the debate between President Joe Biden and former president and likely Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, which is expected to be a pivotal moment in the campaign.

Biden is seen by voters as particularly vulnerable when it comes to immigration. Trump has repeatedly attacked him over border security, painting a picture of the border as out of control and migrants as a threat to the country’s security and economy.

Biden has tried to crack down on new arrivals at the border and open new immigration routes.

The restrictions he announced in early June cut off access to asylum if arrivals at the border reached a certain number, infuriating immigration advocates who say the policy is little different from what Trump tried. Then, a few weeks later, Biden announced a new program aimed at spouses of undocumented U.S. citizens who have been in the country for at least a decade that could eventually give them a path to citizenship.

Figures released Wednesday by the Department of Homeland Security show that the average number of Border Patrol apprehensions over a seven-day period has fallen to below 2,400, a drop of more than 40% from before Biden’s proclamation took effect on June 5. While that’s still above the 1,500 mark needed to resume asylum processing, Homeland Security says it’s the lowest number since Jan. 17, 2021, just before Biden took office.0

Last week, Customs and Border Protection said in its monthly statistics release that apprehensions at the border have fallen 25% since Biden’s order took effect, suggesting they have fallen much more since then.

The monthly data releases are a closely watched measure of border security and the number of people coming to the southern U.S. border. The numbers hit a record high last December before falling by about half in January and remaining in that range throughout the spring. Much of that decline is attributed to Mexican security measures on their side of the border.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas visited the Tucson, Arizona, sector on Wednesday. This sector has been the busiest corridor for illegal border crossings over the past year. U.S. authorities say the seven-day average of arrests in the sector was just under 600 on Tuesday, compared to just under 1,200 on June 2.

During his visit, Mayorkas described the new asylum restriction rule as a success.

“These measures change the calculation for those considering crossing the border,” the minister told reporters.

Under the asylum suspension, which will take effect when daily arrests exceed 2,500, anyone who expresses fear or seeks asylum will be screened by a U.S. asylum officer, but under more stringent standards than currently in place. If the person passes the screening, they will be able to apply for more limited forms of humanitarian protection than asylum, including the U.N. Convention against Torture.

Immigration advocates have filed suit to stop the restrictions.

Santana reported from Washington.