Unauthorized migrant apprehensions by U.S. immigration authorities near the Mexico border
saw a significant 25% in March. U.S. Border Patrol agents recorded over 162,000 apprehensions of
migrants in between official ports of entry last month, a jump from the 130,000 apprehensions reported in
February, according to federal statistics. While the rise is significant, it is not a deviation from historical
patterns that typically see increases in the spring. Despite the uptick, the number of migrant
apprehensions last month was lower than the tallies recorded in March 2021 and March 2022.
Policy concerns of a broader influx of illegal crossings have intensified as U.S. officials prepare to
discontinue a rule known as Title 42 that has allowed them to summarily expel hundreds of thousands of
migrants during the coronavirus pandemic.
To address the potential spike in migration, the Biden administration is hoping to finalize a
regulation on or before May 11 that would disqualify migrants from asylum if they enter the U.S. illegally
after failing to ask for protection in a country other than the one they fled that they traversed to reach
America. The rule is likely to be challenged in court by migrant advocates, who have criticized it as an
attempt to destroy Asylum protections. Nearly 420,000 of the apprehensions recorded in the current fiscal
year have led to migrants being expelled to Mexico or their home country under Title 42, government
figures show. In March, Border Patrol carried out over 85,000 expulsions, the highest level since June
2022.
Contact the Law Offices of Anna Hysell at 760-233-0800 for more information about Political
Asylum and other important immigration policy changes.
