“Over the past two days, the United States Border Patrol has reported a 50% drop in the number of encounters compared to the previous week,” Alejandro Mayorkas told CNN’s “State of the Union.”
About 6,300 migrants crossed the border into Mexico on Friday and 4,200 on Saturday, according to the official, a number he described as “significantly lower” than the 10,000 daily crossings recorded earlier in the week.
But he stressed that “it’s still too early” to make a diagnosis. “We are only on the third day,” he said, referring to the lifting of the mechanism known as “Title 42.” Mayorkas avoided any triumphalism.
Title 42, the rule that expires at 11:59 p.m. in Washington on Thursday, allows for the immediate removal of immigrants without visas or documentation, including asylum seekers, under the name of a health emergency.
To stem the massive influx of migrants after their insurgency, Democratic President Joe Biden’s government deployed thousands of police and military along the roughly 3,200 km that separates the United States and Mexico, and imposed new rules on asylum rights. Sanctions approved.
Before appearing at the border, immigrants must obtain a prior appointment through a mobile application for asylum applications, CBP One’s centralization, or their asylum application is denied in one of the transit countries.
Otherwise, they may be subject to expedited deportation proceedings in their home countries and a five-year ban on entry to U.S. territory.
“We are executing our plan exactly as we planned,” Mayorkas told ABC. “We have already expelled thousands of migrants: if they try to return, they face a five-year ban and possible criminal prosecution,” he insisted.
Republican Congressman Mark Green, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, disputed the figures.
“This week has seen more crossings than any other week in our history,” he told CNN. He attributed this to an increase in the number of people crossing the border before Title 42 expired.
