The number of migrants encountered monthly at the southwest border dropped significantly in January, a dip that Biden administration officials attribute to recent “carrot-and-stick” style migration programs.
Border agents reported a 40 percent drop in total encounters with migrants last month, decreasing from a record 252,000 encounters in December to about 156,000 in January, according to data released Friday by Customs and Border Protection.
Of those, about 128,400 migrants were apprehended between ports of entry, according CBP, making January the lowest month of reported migrant encounters between ports in nearly two years.
