December saw a significant drop in daily encounters along the U.S.-Mexico border, reaching the lowest average since July 2020, according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The total number of migrant encounters for the month clocked in at 96,000.
Mayorkas attributed the decline to a series of actions taken by President Joe Biden's administration last summer. The measures included an executive rule that turns away migrants claiming asylum between ports of entry if there have been more than 2,500 encounters on seven consecutive days. This approach has led to a consistent reduction in encounters, with the daily average now lower than in any month of 2019, Mayorkas said, as reported by ABC News.
