Washington, D.C. (May 18, 2023) - A Center for Immigration Studies analysis of the recently released CBP statistics on Border Patrol apprehensions and CBP overall encounters at the Southwest border for the month of April show both surged last month even while Title 42 expulsions dropped. That does not bode well for the administration with Title 42 having some ended on May 11 just as “travel season” at the U.S.-Mexico line gears up. Expect some drop-off in apprehensions when the May numbers come out next month as illegal migrants — and more importantly their smugglers — are still trying to figure out all the loopholes in Biden’s latest border regime.
In April, Border Patrol agents at the Southwest border apprehended more than 182,000 illegal migrants. This represents a 12 percent increase in apprehensions over March, and a 40 percent increase over February — the month Biden lauded his immigration efforts at the State of the Union address.
Would-be migrants were enticed in part by the fact that Border Patrol apparently began ramping down Title 42 expulsions in April even before the CDC orders that guided that policy expired. Fewer than 72,000 apprehended migrants were expelled under Title 42 last month, 39.4 percent of the total; while more than 89,000 illegal entrants (55 percent of that month’s total) were expelled in March.
CBP encounters are the total of Border Patrol apprehensions and aliens deemed inadmissible at the ports of entry by CBP officers in the agency’s Office of Field Operations (OFO). In April, CBP officers and agents encountered more than 211,000 aliens at the Southwest border, the eighth-highest monthly total under the Biden administration, 29,000 of whom were deemed inadmissible at the ports.
The administration’s latest scheme to hide the ramifications of its border policies is to funnel would-be illegal migrants through the ports of entry by allowing them to schedule “interviews” with CBP officers using the CBP One app (which was originally designed to expedite lawful travel).
Recent reports have indicated that more than 99 percent of all the migrants who have received such interviews have been allowed to enter the United States — despite that fact, again, that (1) those migrants are inadmissible to the United States and (2) should therefore, by law, be detained.
Looking forward, keep an eye on the CBP OFO port encounter numbers, and expect them to jump to even higher levels. Some state attorney general will likely catch onto the CBP One app appointment and release scheme and sue to block it.
Don’t be surprised if monthly Border Patrol apprehension numbers either remain steady or decline slightly in May. The end of Title 42 has brought with it a great deal of uncertainty, and until the migrants — and the smugglers — figure out all the loopholes around Biden’s latest border regime, illegal entrants will be leery.
