Migrant Apprehensions at Border Drop for Seventh Straight Month

The apprehension of migrants crossing the southwest border from Mexico fell in December. A CBP report issued on Thursday shows a drop in apprehensions for the seventh straight month following the implementation of new asylum and border enforcement policies by the Trump administration.

Border Patrol agents in the nine southwest border sectors apprehended 32,858 people (1,060 per day), according to the Southwest Border Migration Report released by CBP officials on Thursday. This represents a slight drop from the 33,510 migrants apprehended in November 2019 and a major drop (nearly 75 percent) from the 132,856 apprehended at the peak of the crisis in May 2019.

“This seven-month decline is a direct result of President Trump’s network of policy initiatives and our ability to effectively enforce the law, enhance our border security posture and properly care for those in custody,” CBP Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan said in a written statement.

Officials stated that CBP Southwest Border Enforcement Actions so far this fiscal year are 33 percent lower than the same period in FY19.

The apprehension of migrant families continues to decline since the president implemented new strategies to deal with asylum seekers. In December 2018, agents apprehended 27,507 Family Unit Aliens. By December 2019, that number fell to 8,998, CBP records reveal. This represents a drop of more than 67 percent.

The apprehension of Unaccompanied Alien Children also fell from the previous year. Agents apprehended 3,250 unaccompanied minors in December 2019 — down from 4,753 the year prior.

Total year-to-year apprehensions in December fell from 50,751 in 2018 to 32,858 — a drop of more than 35 percent.

The Rio Grande Valley Sector in South Texas continues to report the highest number of apprehensions during December 2019, RGV Sector agents apprehended 7,832 total migrants including 1598 migrant families, 1,037 unaccompanied minors, and 5,197 single adults.

The Tucson Sector reported the largest number of migrant family apprehensions — 2,416. This was followed closely by the El Paso Sector (2,262) and the Rio Grande Valley Sector (1,598).

Most of the single adults who were apprehended by Border Patrol agents after illegally crossing the border came from Mexico (40,737). This was followed by Guatemala (8,003), Honduras (6,324) and El Salvador (2,818).

The largest number of migrant families came from Guatemala (6,948) — followed by Honduras (6,218), Mexico (3,505), and El Salvador (2,649).

Most of the unaccompanied minors came to the U.S. border from Guatemala (3,363) and Mexico (3,044) while 1,587 came from Honduras and 921 from El Salvador.