Activity along the southern border returns to Trump-era levels

Migrant apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border ticked up slightly last month but appear on track to reach the lowest annual total since the end of the Trump administration, Customs and Border Protection said Monday.

The Border Patrol recorded about 58,000 apprehensions between the ports of entry in August, an increase of several thousand from the month prior but less than half the total from a year earlier, CBP said in a monthly news release that has become highly anticipated in an election year in which migration has become a central issue.

Border apprehensions have plummeted since June, when President Joe Biden, under pressure from former President Donald Trump and his allies, issued executive orders to make it harder to claim asylum .

“The data published today by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows that since President Biden announced new, decisive executive actions to secure the border on June 4, encounters between ports of entry have dropped significantly and remain at their lowest level in years,” White House spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández said in a statement.

Migrant encounters rose sharply after Biden took office and reached a record 250,000 in December. Apprehensions fell to a four-year low in July once the new restrictions were in place.

CBP said the annual total of migrant encounters for the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30 is on track to reach the lowest level since 2020 and lower than the monthly average for 2019.

Despite the drop in numbers, migration has continued to be a significant factor in the campaign — with both Trump and JD Vance making the issue a central focus of their appearances.