WASHINGTON.- Arrests for illegal border crossings in the United States They fell more than 40% in the three weeks since the regular processing of asylum applications was suspended, the Department of Homeland Security indicated on Wednesday.
The Border Patrol’s seven-day average of apprehensions has fallen below 2,400, a contraction of more than 40% since President Joe Biden’s June 5 policy took effect. It remains above the 1,500 needed to resume normal asylum proceedings, though Homeland Security said it was the lowest number since Jan. 17, 2021, less than a week before Biden took office.
Biden said last week that border apprehensions had fallen 25% since his order took effect, and new data indicated the number had fallen much further since then.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas was scheduled to speak to reporters Wednesday in Tucson, Arizona, the busiest corridor for illegal crossings for much of the past year. The daily average of apprehensions over the past seven days in the Border Patrol’s Tucson sector was just 600 on Tuesday, down from nearly 1,200 on June 2, U.S. officials said.
Under the suspension, which is activated when daily arrests exceed 2,500, anyone who expresses fear or intention to request asylum is processed by a US asylum officer but with a higher level of demand. If you qualify, you can apply for more limited forms of humanitarian protection, including the United Nations Convention against Torture.
Activist groups have sued the government to block the measure.
Source: With information from AP
