Border arrests rose slightly in August; Encounters at ports of entry hold steady

EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — U.S. Border Patrol arrests along the Southwest border rose slightly from July to August but remained among the Biden administration’s lowest.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data released Monday afternoon, border agents had 58,038 encounters between ports of entry in August, up from 56,399 in July.

Border arrests hit a record high of 249,741 in December, but have been trending down since.

CBP’s Office of Field Operations, however, had some of the highest numbers of migrant encounters at ports of entry, and they have remained steady since June 2023. OFO reported a total of 49,465 encounters in August, up from 47,702 in July.

The increase in individuals showing up to ports of entry coincides with news rules from the Biden administration that require migrants to request an asylum interview using the CBP One app, which launched in January 2023, and the show up at a designation port of entry.

In early June, President Joe Biden announced executive actions meant to suspend and limit entry of individuals at the southern border.

Under the proclamation – along with a joint Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice regulation – individuals who cross illegally between ports of entry are deemed ineligible for asylum the levels of migrant encounters at the southern border are too high.

Currently, about 1,500 CBP One appointments are allowed each day. During a visit to Tucson, Arizona in June, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the 1,400 to 1,500 appointments are what U.S. ports of entry can handle, adding that ports are “antiquated.”

CBP said that since the new rules took effect on June 5 and through Sept. 10, DHS has removed or returned more than 131,000 individuals to more than 140 countries, on more than 400 international repatriation flights.

“CBP continues to enforce the Securing the Border interim final rule and deliver strong consequences for illegal entry, and encounters between ports of entry remain at their lowest level in years,” Acting CBP Commissioner Troy A. Millers said in statement. “Through the work of our dedicated personnel, this enhanced enforcement posture is meaningfully disrupting the operations of deadly transnational criminal organizations.

Overall migrant encounters nationwide, including those along the Southwest border, fell slightly from July to August, going from 170,209 to 158,988. More than two-thirds of those encounters in July (98,274) were at ports of entry.

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