Migrant border crossings dip in March, with U.S. officials crediting crackdown by Mexico

Washington — The number of migrants apprehended along the US-Mexico border plunged in March, according to internal government statistics obtained by CBS News, a surprising trend that U.S. officials say stems primarily from the Mexican government’s crackdown on immigration.

Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 137,000 migrants who crossed the U.S. southern border illegally in March, up from nearly 141,000 in February, according to preliminary Customs and Border Protection figures confirmed by three American officials.

It’s the first time in seven years — and the only time under the Biden administration — that illegal crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border did not increase from February to March, according to historical CBP statistics. In fact, over the past three years, illegal crossings have increased by at least 33,000 additional arrests during that time.

In March, another 52,000 migrants were processed at legal border crossings, most of them under a Biden administration process that allows potential asylum seekers in Mexico to enter the United States with government permission after securing an appointment via a smartphone app.

Officials still expect an increase in migration in the spring, as has been the case historically. Still, the lower-than-expected number of illegal crossings in March comes as a respite for the Biden administration, which is facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis and political storm over record numbers of migrants crossing the southern border.

It is difficult to pinpoint a single reason for the decline in migrant crossings because migration is a very complex phenomenon influenced by ever-changing push and pull factors, such as U.S. policy, smuggler tactics and conditions in migrants’ countries of origin.

But three U.S. officials said they believed Mexico’s increased measures to slow migration to the United States had played a major role in fewer illegal crossings recorded by U.S. authorities. When migrant crossings reached record levels in December, the Biden administration dispatched senior officials to Mexico City to convince Mexican authorities to do more to reduce migrant arrivals near the U.S. border.

A senior CBP official, who requested anonymity to speak freely about the U.S.-Mexico efforts, said Mexico has deployed additional authorities to prevent migrants from traveling to the U.S. border via freight trains or buses . Mexican authorities also expel some of the migrants they intercept on those routes further south, the CBP official added.

The decline in illegal crossings in March, the CBP official noted, was most pronounced among non-Mexican migrants, who Mexican authorities can prevent from moving within Mexico.

“This highlights that one of the reasons for this decrease was the Mexican government’s continued and significant efforts to disrupt some of the transportation networks bringing people to the border,” the official said.

Beyond Mexico’s actions, U.S. officials have also attributed the decline in migrant numbers to increased expulsions by the United States.

Since May, the United States has expelled or returned more than 630,000 migrants, including nearly 100,000 parents and children traveling with family, to Mexico or their home countries, according to Department of Homeland Security data. In one week in March, the United States conducted 39 deportation flights, a senior CBP official told CBS News, calling the number a record.

In March, the busiest areas for illegal crossings continued to be the areas near San Diego and Tucson. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, one of the most vocal Republican critics of the Biden administration’s immigration policies, has taken credit for the concentration of illegal crossings in Arizona and California in recent months, citing his efforts to fortify the banks of the Rio Grande with razor wire and barbed wire. other obstacles.

In a recent interview with CBS News, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens said that while Texas’ actions may have “some impact” in deterring migrants, they are not “a panacea.” Mexico’s actions also play a role, he said.

In a statement, CBP spokesperson Erin Waters said the Biden administration will continue to work with other countries, including Mexico, to combat criminal groups that smuggle migrants into the United States .

Nonetheless, Waters added, “CBP remains vigilant to ever-changing migration patterns and will adjust operations as necessary. The fact remains that we continue to face serious challenges along our border; we need Congress to act and provide additional resources and tools to address it. “.

Ariel Ruiz, an analyst at the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute, said relying on Mexican immigration authorities was not a sustainable solution for the United States. Ruiz said the Mexican government’s actions were creating a “bottleneck” of migrants in Mexico because it cannot deport most migrants. migrants to other countries.

“It’s tricky because it creates pressures inside Mexico,” Ruiz said. “And at a time when Mexican law enforcement cannot follow these actions or say that there is a change of administration in the Mexican elections in June, there could be pressure that would push these migrants to go from ahead and coming to the United States.”

In recent months, President Biden has considered strengthening asylum rules at the southern border using broad presidential power that his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, repeatedly invoked to restrict legal immigration and asylum. Administration officials noted, however, that any executive action would not replace the need for Congress to reform an overwhelmed immigration system, last updated in the 1990s.

The senior CBP official said “there is no silver bullet through executive action.”