By Ted Hesson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The variety of migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border dropped on Friday, a senior U.S. border official informed Reuters, saying it signaled a restrictive new Biden administration coverage was deterring some unlawful immigration.
U.S. Border Patrol arrested round 3,100 folks crossing illegally, down roughly 20% from the times earlier than, the official mentioned, requesting anonymity to debate preliminary figures.
“It’s still too early to say this is a definitive trend,” the official mentioned. “But I think it is indicative of some possible early success.”
Immigration has emerged as a prime situation for People within the months earlier than Nov. 5 elections that may determine management of the White Home and Congress. President Joe Biden, a Democrat searching for one other time period, faces Republican Donald Trump – an immigration hardliner – in a rematch of the 2020 contest.
Biden took workplace in 2021 pledging to reverse a lot of Trump’s restrictive immigration insurance policies however has toughened his stance within the face of file migrant arrests on the border.
Biden carried out a sweeping coverage on Wednesday that usually bars migrants who illegally cross the U.S.-Mexico border from claiming asylum. The asylum ban has exceptions for unaccompanied minors, individuals who face severe medical or security threats, and victims of trafficking.
The brand new coverage goals to maximise the variety of migrants positioned in “expedited removal,” a fast-track deportation course of. Since Wednesday, greater than 2,000 folks per day have been put in expedited elimination, greater than double the earlier fee, the U.S. official mentioned.
Questions nonetheless stay about whether or not border crossings will keep low sufficient to course of folks shortly and whether or not U.S. authorities have the capability to satisfy their targets.
The American Civil Liberties Union has vowed to sue to halt the measure, which resembles Trump-era curbs on asylum.
