In September, U.S. border authorities reported a notable 7% decrease in arrests for illegal crossings from Mexico, reaching a four-year low. According to the latest figures from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, border patrol made 53,858 arrests, down from 58,009 in August—the lowest monthly total since August 2020, which saw 47,283 arrests.
Mexicans represented nearly half of those arrested, a significant increase compared to previous months. For context, in December—when arrests peaked at an all-time high of 250,000—Mexicans comprised less than a quarter of those apprehended. Additionally, arrests among other nationalities, including Guatemalans, Hondurans, Colombians, and Ecuadoreans, have sharply declined this year.
Geographically, San Diego again emerged as the busiest corridor for illegal crossings in September, followed by El Paso, Texas, and Tucson, Arizona. As the presidential campaign intensifies, immigration remains a pivotal issue, particularly for Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Fiscal year data also tells a compelling story: the border patrol made 1.53 million arrests, a decrease from the over 2 million captured in each of the two prior years.
The White House has emphasized these statistics as evidence that the stringent asylum restrictions implemented in June are proving effective. They have criticized congressional Republicans for their lack of support on a border security bill that failed in February. Vice President Kamala Harris has leveraged this point against Trump, attempting to counter claims that the Biden administration has been ineffective on immigration enforcement.
Angelo Fernández Hernández, a spokesperson for the White House, stated, “The Biden-Harris administration has taken effective action, and Republican officials continue to do nothing.”
Conversely, the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which frequently critiques the administration and advocates for stricter immigration policies, attributed the recent decline in arrests to enhanced enforcement by Mexican authorities. They suggested that the U.S. has effectively “outsourced” border security to Mexico as the 2024 election looms, with the assertion that these policies could be easily reversed by the Mexican government.
Following Mexico’s increased enforcement measures in December, arrests dropped significantly, further plummeting once U.S. asylum restrictions came into effect in June. U.S. officials have been vocal about the importance of Mexico’s involvement in addressing this issue.
This year, Mexican authorities are encountering more migrants, even as deportations remain relatively low, leading to a bottleneck in the process. Reports from Panama indicated an uptick in migrants traversing the perilous Darién Gap, though overall numbers are still less than those seen last year.
In a recent news conference, Troy Miller, the acting commissioner of CBP, noted ongoing collaboration with Mexico and other nations to tackle migration issues. “We continue to be concerned about any bottlenecks, we continue to look at those, we continue to address them with our partners,” he remarked in San Diego.
In an effort to promote legal immigration pathways and dissuade illegal crossings, the Biden administration has introduced several initiatives. Notably, in September, CBP facilitated the entry of over 44,600 individuals using the online appointment system known as CBP One, bringing the total to 852,000 since its launch in January 2023. Furthermore, policies allowing up to 30,000 individuals monthly from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela—conditional on financial sponsorship—have seen over 531,000 entries through September.
