Irregular border crossings are reduced by half in the Arizona sector after restrictions on asylum

Irregular migrant crossings in the border area of ​​Tucson, Arizona, have been reduced by half in the last three weeks, according to US immigration authorities on Tuesday. The average number of daily meetings, which at the beginning of the month was around 1,200, today only reaches around 600.

During statements to the press, members of the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP) attributed the reduction in encounters to the executive order issued by President Joe Biden on June 4, in which limited access to asylum to those who cross the border irregularly.

The Tucson, Arizona sector covers more than 421 linear kilometers from New Mexico to Yuma, a desert area with 10 checkpoints and about 3,100 border agents. This makes it one of the largest and most active on the southwest border.

In the case of the Nogales station, in the same state, during fiscal year 2023 authorities reported about 50,000 migrant arrests. So far in 2024, the number already exceeds 60,000. The majority consist of single adults and families who voluntarily surrender to agents.

“We have to focus most of our resources on getting people out of these elements, getting them out of the desert as quickly as possible so that they don’t become a medical consequence… that is the urgency we have here in Tucson, and what has “The fact that the executive action in recent weeks has yielded positive results,” said one of the immigration officers.

The majority of migrants crossing through this sector come from Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador and Colombia, according to agents.

“As it became clear that Congress would not take legislative action on the matter, the administration took action to implement this necessary step that increases border enforcement,” one of the officials said.

Credible fear claims decrease

Journalists toured a section of the Tucson border sector, in southern Arizona, with authorities on Tuesday, in preparation for the visit to the area on Wednesday by Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

Part of the new procedures included in the executive action require migrants seeking to request asylum to express a credible case of fear since they are intercepted by authorities, instead of waiting for agents to ask questions related to their personal situation. just as was the case before.

By changing this procedure, according to officials, they have also reduced the number of individuals who express fear of persecution upon arriving at the border. At the same time, the number of people who are released with an order to appear in court after being detained decreased by 90%.

Although access to asylum was restricted, the possibility of requesting it – according to the administration – remains available only to those who have made appointments through the CBP One application to appear at a port of entry on a pre-established date.

The number of daily appointments remains capped at 16,000, “more than five times the historical average of individuals who were processed daily at the southwest border ports,” according to agents.

A group of migrant advocates has already presented a demand against the Biden administration to try to reverse the restrictions.

Overall, along the southwest border, the number of encounters with migrants has been reduced a third of those reported prior to the executive action. CBP data indicates that May 2024 had the lowest number of encounters since June 2023, a month after the end of Title 42.

In December 2023, border authorities reported 301,983 encounters with migrants on the southwest border, the highest number on record. Officials noted on Tuesday that this responds to the “general challenges” that the Western Hemisphere is experiencing in terms of mobility crises.

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