(LibertyInsider.org) – US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is about to reopen four critical ports of entry that officials temporarily closed in early December in response to the ongoing migrant crisis. Operations and processing will officially resume at Lukeville and Nogales in Arizona, Eagle Pass in Texas, and the San Francisco Port on January 4.
CBP originally suspended services at the four crossing points in an effort to redirect staff to areas experiencing a surge of migrants “fueled by smugglers peddling disinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals.” A Biden administration staffer told ABC News those numbers have significantly declined over the past few days, allowing the agency to shift resources back to facilitate reopening the ports.
In a statement, CBP said it remains fully committed to border security operations even as it recommences processing at the ports. While officials did not indicate whether additional closures might be on the horizon, they also vowed to prioritize the deployment of all available human resources to “maximize enforcement efforts” against unlawful crossings.
Statistics show that migrant crossings increased throughout most of 2023 but surged even higher during the second half of the year. Preliminary data suggests that CBP apprehended 302,000 people during the month of December — the highest number ever recorded within the same 30-day timeframe.
#BREAKING RECORD HIGH ENCOUNTER NUMBERS AT SOUTHERN BORDER: CBP sources confirm we hit 302k+ migrant encounters for the month of December. This is the highest monthly total on record–The previous high was September 2023 when 269,735 encounters were recorded.
BP encountered…
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) January 1, 2024
According to the latest data from CBP, migrant encounters in the Del Rio, Texas, region have declined significantly in recent weeks. The agency reported apprehending approximately 500 migrants on January 2nd.
To properly contextualize this figure, it’s helpful to compare it to statistics from the previous month. In December, CBP agents reported encountering approximately 71,000 migrants in Del Rio, Texas, averaging around 2,300 apprehensions per day. While the January 2nd tally represents just 24 hours, it supports the hypothesis that daily encounters are declining.
Officials say a recent meeting between Secretary of State Antony Blinken, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and the Mexican government may have helped facilitate the sharp drop in encounters. The event reportedly helped convince Mexico to provide more assistance with the surge over the past few days. The Biden administration expects these talks to continue.
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