Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
AP Exclusive: Border Apprehensions Drop 8 Straight Months
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
February 4, 2020

Share

WASHINGTON — The number of border apprehensions has dropped for the eighth straight month, following crackdowns by the Trump administration that include forcing asylum seekers back over the U.S.-Mexico border to wait out their claims, a Homeland Security official said Monday.

The tally for the month of January was about 36,000, including apprehensions of people crossing illegally and migrants who were declared inadmissible by border officers at a port of entry . It was a 10 percent decline from December.
The official said the number of encounters with border officials over the past four months was 165,000. A year earlier during the same time it was about 242,000. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the official results have not been released.
The tally for the month of January was about 36,000, including apprehensions of people crossing illegally and migrants who were declared inadmissible by border officers at a port of entry . It was a 10 percent decline from December.
The steep decline will almost certainly figure heavily into President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday. Trump has made cracking down on immigration — legal and illegal — a signature issue. He has railed against asylum seekers and other border crossers as con artists who “scam” the system, and derided immigrants from Mexico as “bad hombres. ”
Trump uses the monthly border tallies as a benchmark to determine how his policies are working, railing against Homeland Security officials when the numbers are up. The number of people crossing the border traditionally declines when it’s hot outside — but the winter months often see creeping increases.
Photo of Mexican National Guard troops
Mexican National Guard troops patrolling the country’s northern border are seen from Sunland Park, New Mexico on Friday, Jan. 31, 2020, in the nearby town of Sunland Park, New Mexico. The troops have been deployed on and off to the region, which includes Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, following a threat in 2019 from President Donald Trump to impose tariffs on Mexican exports. (AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio)

The Reduction Comes at a Cost

The monthly tally is down almost 75 percent from the peak last May, when there were more than 144,000 encounters with migrants, the large majority families from Central America who are not easily returned over the border. The immigration system was vastly strained last spring, with migrants crammed for weeks into small border stations not meant to hold people beyond a few days. News of the conditions in the border stationscoupled with migrant deaths, promoted massive outrage and pushed Congress into emergency funding to help ease the crush.

Mexico has also stepped up its own border enforcement, making clear that caravans that once traveled through its territory are no longer allowed to do so, following intense pressure and threatened trade tariffs from Washington last year.
The reduction comes at a cost. More than 55,000 asylum seekers, including families and pregnant women, have been sent over the border to Mexico to wait out their asylum cases and have faced sickness and squalid conditions in makeshift camps, plus assault and kidnapping by cartels that patrol the borderlands.
Mexico has also stepped up its own border enforcement, making clear that caravans that once traveled through its territory are no longer allowed to do so, following intense pressure and threatened trade tariffs from Washington last year. And U.S. policy now essentially bans anyone from claiming asylum if they crossed through another country first. Officials are also now sending asylum seekers to Central American nations as part of a border security agreements with Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Despite the nosedive at the border, asylum seekers are still signing up on a waiting list to enter the U.S. at an official crossing in San Luis, Arizona. U.S. Customs and Border Protection calls the Mexican shelter that manages the list to say how many asylum claims it will process each day. The shelter estimates the wait at three to four months.
[activecampaign form=29]

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: CEMEX’s New Mining Plan for the San Joaquin River

DON'T MISS

Trump Fires NSC Officials a Day After Far-Right Activist Raises Concerns to Him

DON'T MISS

China Halts Approvals for New US Investment Projects

DON'T MISS

Measles Spreads to Central Texas; 5 States Have Active Outbreaks

DON'T MISS

Trump Tariff Fears Erase $2 Trillion From US Stocks

DON'T MISS

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

DON'T MISS

Senate Confirms Mehmet Oz to Take Lead of Medicare and Medicaid Agency

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Pence Will Receive the Profile in Courage Award From the JFK Library for His Actions on Jan. 6

DON'T MISS

Politics Turns Ugly for a Conservative Running for Fresno State Student Body President

UP NEXT

Measles Spreads to Central Texas; 5 States Have Active Outbreaks

UP NEXT

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

UP NEXT

Pence Will Receive the Profile in Courage Award From the JFK Library for His Actions on Jan. 6

UP NEXT

Protests Planned All Over the World Aimed at Donald Trump and Elon Musk

UP NEXT

Flores Homers, Matos and Wade Also Go Deep to Help Giants Cap Sweep of Astros

UP NEXT

Israeli Strikes on Gaza Overnight Leaves More Than 50 Palestinians Dead

UP NEXT

Hungary to Exit ICC as Netanyahu Visits Amid Arrest Warrant Dispute

UP NEXT

Rubio Visits NATO Amid European Alarm Over Trump’s Agenda

UP NEXT

Trump Proposes Tax Deduction for Auto Loan Interest on US-Made Cars

UP NEXT

Western US Sees Sharp Increase in Extreme Weather Impact

Measles Spreads to Central Texas; 5 States Have Active Outbreaks

11 hours ago

Trump Tariff Fears Erase $2 Trillion From US Stocks

12 hours ago

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

12 hours ago

Senate Confirms Mehmet Oz to Take Lead of Medicare and Medicaid Agency

13 hours ago

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

15 hours ago

Pence Will Receive the Profile in Courage Award From the JFK Library for His Actions on Jan. 6

15 hours ago

Politics Turns Ugly for a Conservative Running for Fresno State Student Body President

15 hours ago

Pentagon’s Watchdog to Review Hegseth’s Use of Signal App to Convey Plans for Houthi Strike

15 hours ago

President Trump’s Tariffs Could Be the Political Tipping Point

16 hours ago

Order That Kept Water in the Kern River Reversed by 5th District Court of Appeal

16 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: CEMEX’s New Mining Plan for the San Joaquin River

GV Wire’s Edward Smith talks with KMPH Fox 26 “Great Day” anchor Christina Rodriguez about the possibility of CEMEX digging a 600-foot hole ...

10 hours ago

10 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: CEMEX’s New Mining Plan for the San Joaquin River

President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)
10 hours ago

Trump Fires NSC Officials a Day After Far-Right Activist Raises Concerns to Him

11 hours ago

China Halts Approvals for New US Investment Projects

11 hours ago

Measles Spreads to Central Texas; 5 States Have Active Outbreaks

12 hours ago

Trump Tariff Fears Erase $2 Trillion From US Stocks

12 hours ago

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, seated right, gives a thumbs-up alongside his wife Lisa Oz, seated left, with friends and family after he testified at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP/Ben Curtis)
13 hours ago

Senate Confirms Mehmet Oz to Take Lead of Medicare and Medicaid Agency

15 hours ago

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend