Migrants were gathering by the hundreds in encampments in Ciudad Juárez, on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande, waiting for an opportunity to cross the border into the United States. But as President-elect Donald J. Trump prepares to take office Monday, few people could be found last week on the once-crowded docks.
All that was left were extinguished campfires, discarded shoes, shirts and toothbrushes.
One Mexican city after another has reported a similar situation along the border with the United States, where the number of migrants has steadily declined in recent months. The decline has largely been attributed to tightening restrictions introduced by the Biden administration and by Mexican and Panamanian officials intended to deter migration.
As President Biden came under increasing pressure during his re-election campaign to curb migration flows, he issued an executive order in June effectively preventing undocumented migrants from receiving asylum. That month, U.S. border officials recorded 83,532 illegal crossings, a significant drop from 117,905 the month before.
Despite the decline, illegal crossings remain higher than during much of Mr. Trump’s first term, fueling calls from the new Trump administration, and even some congressional Democrats, for tougher restrictions on migration to the United States.
