Border Crossings are Dropping Across the U.S., but New Mexico Saw a 22% Increase in August

A member of the Mexican Guard stands guard at the border between the United States and Mexico in New Mexico. (Credit: JUSTIN HAMEL/AFP via Getty Images)

ALABAMA - Since President Joe Biden signed executive orders in June imposing stricter asylum-seeking rules, migrant encounters along the United States' Southern border have fallen drastically. August saw a slight increase in border crossings compared to July, but U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials still recorded some of the lowest figures throughout the entire Biden administration, with about 58,000 encounters.

Despite the considerable decrease compared to the 200,000 peak in December of 2023, there is a place along the U.S.-Mexico border that is seeing an increase in encounters: New Mexico.