Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Despite Last-Minute Changes, Senate Bill Deals Big Blow to Renewable Energy

17 hours ago

Trump-Backed Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Passes US Senate

18 hours ago

Homeland Security Secretary Noem Says CNN May Be Prosecuted Over Report on Migration App

19 hours ago

Israeli Officials to Hold Ceasefire Talks in Washington Amid Military Escalation in Gaza

20 hours ago

Trump Escalates Feud With Musk, Threatens Tesla, SpaceX Support

20 hours ago

Musk Vows to Punish Lawmakers Who Back Trump’s Spending Bill

1 day ago

Will Valadao Spoil Trump’s Plan for July 4th ‘Big Beautiful Bill’ Signing?

2 days ago

Shaver Lake and Reedley 4th of July Shows Are Wednesday. Who Else Is Celebrating?

2 days ago
Sharp Drop in Illegal Border Crossings Continues in February
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
March 16, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

sharp drop in illegal border crossings along the Southwest border that started in January after the Biden administration announced stricter immigration measures continued into February, the administration announced Wednesday.

The data released by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection paints a picture of who is attempting to enter the country at a time of intense political controversy with Republicans seeing immigration as a potent issue with voters and accusing President Biden and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of not doing enough to secure the southern border.

U.S. Border Patrol officials encountered migrants 128,877 times trying to cross the border in February between the legal border crossings. That’s about the same as January’s number — 128,913 — and is the lowest number of encounters per month since February 2021, the agency said.

The numbers of encounters doesn’t necessarily equate to individual people since some migrants try repeatedly to cross the border. The agency said about 25% of those encountered in February were repeat encounters meaning that at some time during the last 12 months they’d been detained by U.S. officials as they tried to enter the country.

In comparison, U.S. officials stopped migrants 221,693 times between the ports of entry along the Mexican border in December.

Then in early January the administration announced a new policy in which Mexico would take back Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans under a pandemic-era rule that denies migrants the right to seek asylum as part of an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The number of migrants intercepted from those four countries plunged after the new policy went into effect and remained low during February.

At the same time they announced the new policy, the U.S. also agreed to admit up to 30,000 people a month from those four nations on a process called humanitarian parole if they applied online, entered at an airport and found a financial sponsor. According to the CBP figures, 22,755 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans were paroled into the country through that process in February. Humanitarian parole differs from other immigration pathways in large part because it’s temporary — often only for a year or two — and doesn’t provide a long-term pathway to live in the U.S.

The administration has also proposed generally denying asylum to anyone who travels though another country on their way to the U.S. without seeking protection there — effectively all non-Mexicans who appear at the U.S. southern border. That proposal, which has met with stiff criticism from immigration rights advocates, is currently in a 30-day comment period before it is expected to go into effect when Title 42 expires in May.

According to the CBP report, drug seizures were also up 6% in February compared to January. Fentanyl seizures specifically were up 58%.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

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

DON'T MISS

Trump Pulls Back 150 Guard Troops From Federal Duties in California

DON'T MISS

Trump Says Israel Has Agreed to Conditions to Finalize 60-Day Gaza Ceasefire

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Man Arrested for Suspected Arson Hours After Separate Wildfire

DON'T MISS

New California Environmental Rollbacks Could Boost Housing Projects in Fresno

DON'T MISS

Iran Made Preparations to Mine the Strait of Hormuz, US Sources Say

DON'T MISS

Fresno Unified’s Embattled Nikki Henry Exits. ‘I Own My Mistake. I Won’t Let It Own Me.’

DON'T MISS

Trump Floats Daughter-in-Law Lara Trump for Senate Run in North Carolina

DON'T MISS

Google Hit With $314 Million US Verdict in Cellular Data Class Action

DON'T MISS

Tulare County Wildfire Prompts Advisory in Three Rivers Area

DON'T MISS

O’Brien Launches Fresno County Schools Chief Campaign by Handing Out ‘Homework’

UP NEXT

New California Environmental Rollbacks Could Boost Housing Projects in Fresno

UP NEXT

Trump Floats Daughter-in-Law Lara Trump for Senate Run in North Carolina

UP NEXT

Trump Says US Could Reach Trade Deal With India, Casts Doubt on Deal With Japan

UP NEXT

California Republicans Send Message to Trump: Deport Criminals, Not Our Vital Workers

UP NEXT

US Senate Strikes AI Regulation Ban From Trump Megabill

UP NEXT

Despite Last-Minute Changes, Senate Bill Deals Big Blow to Renewable Energy

UP NEXT

Trump-Backed Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Passes US Senate

UP NEXT

Homeland Security Secretary Noem Says CNN May Be Prosecuted Over Report on Migration App

UP NEXT

Musk Promises a New Political Party if the GOP Bill Passes

UP NEXT

A Path Forward on Immigration Reform That Strengthens America

New California Environmental Rollbacks Could Boost Housing Projects in Fresno

12 hours ago

Iran Made Preparations to Mine the Strait of Hormuz, US Sources Say

12 hours ago

Fresno Unified’s Embattled Nikki Henry Exits. ‘I Own My Mistake. I Won’t Let It Own Me.’

12 hours ago

Trump Floats Daughter-in-Law Lara Trump for Senate Run in North Carolina

12 hours ago

Google Hit With $314 Million US Verdict in Cellular Data Class Action

13 hours ago

Tulare County Wildfire Prompts Advisory in Three Rivers Area

13 hours ago

O’Brien Launches Fresno County Schools Chief Campaign by Handing Out ‘Homework’

13 hours ago

Trump Says US Could Reach Trade Deal With India, Casts Doubt on Deal With Japan

14 hours ago

Jury Reaches Verdict on Some Counts at Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs’ Sex Trafficking Trial

14 hours ago

How Wimbledon Is Tackling Its Hottest Opening on Record

14 hours ago

Trump Pulls Back 150 Guard Troops From Federal Duties in California

LOS ANGELES — The Trump administration released about 150 National Guard troops on Tuesday in the first pullback since it dispatched a milit...

11 hours ago

11 hours ago

Trump Pulls Back 150 Guard Troops From Federal Duties in California

An Israeli military convoy manoeuvres near the Israel-Gaza border, as seen from Israel, July 1, 2025. (Reuters/Amir Cohen)
11 hours ago

Trump Says Israel Has Agreed to Conditions to Finalize 60-Day Gaza Ceasefire

Abel Joel Garcia Zarate, 39, of Biola, was arrested Sunday, June, 30, 2025, in Madera County on suspicion of starting a wildfire just hours after crews responded to a separate blaze sparked by farm equipment. (Madera County SO)
11 hours ago

Fresno County Man Arrested for Suspected Arson Hours After Separate Wildfire

12 hours ago

New California Environmental Rollbacks Could Boost Housing Projects in Fresno

An aerial view of the Iranian shores and the island of Qeshm in the strait of Hormuz, December 10, 2023. REUTERSStringerFile Photo
12 hours ago

Iran Made Preparations to Mine the Strait of Hormuz, US Sources Say

12 hours ago

Fresno Unified’s Embattled Nikki Henry Exits. ‘I Own My Mistake. I Won’t Let It Own Me.’

Lara Trump looks on during Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump's rally, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., November 6, 2024. (Reuters File)
12 hours ago

Trump Floats Daughter-in-Law Lara Trump for Senate Run in North Carolina

A Google logo is seen at a company research facility in Mountain View, California, U.S., May 13, 2025. (Reuters File)
13 hours ago

Google Hit With $314 Million US Verdict in Cellular Data Class Action

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

Search

Send this to a friend