The number of migrant encounters in the San Diego sector dropped 21 percent in June compared to the previous month, which officials attributed in part to a presidential order limiting asylum during periods of heavy illegal border crossings.
Still, with more than 25,000 encounters last month, the San Diego sector was again the busiest corridor along the U.S.-Mexico border, followed by the Tucson sector with more than 22,000, according to the latest data by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
While numbers released Monday by the federal agency reflect last month’s encounters, volunteers in San Diego who provide humanitarian aid to migrants arriving at the border said they have noticed an even more dramatic change this month.
“The decline is now noticeable,” said Adriana Jasso, program coordinator for the U.S.-Mexico border program of the American Friends Service Committee.
Jasso and other volunteers help migrants waiting to be picked up by the Border Patrol for processing in an area between the primary and second border fence west of the San Ysidro Port of Entry, known as “Whiskey 8.” “In June, the numbers were still up and down, but where we’ve seen a change is more in the last week and a half,” she said.
From June 30 to July 6, the San Diego sector recorded 3,958 apprehensions, according to a weekly report shared by Sector Chief Patricia D. McGurk-Daniel on her X . By comparison, the agency reported nearly twice as many apprehensions — 7,693 — for the week of June 5-11.
In another significant change, Border Patrol is no longer releasing migrants at a South San Diego transit station, as had been the case for months after a county-funded migrant center closed due to lack of funding, according to advocates.
Instead, migrants are being sent directly to a Catholic Charities shelter, a spokesperson for the nonprofit confirmed. “For the past 20 days, Catholic Charities has received everyone released by CBP including single individuals which has resulted in no community street releases,” said spokesperson Kimberly Ortiz.
Border Patrol did not immediately respond to an inquiry on the change in street releases.
The effect of President Joe Biden’s order, announced on June 4, was seen across the southwest border. Last month, migrant encounters between ports of entry were 29 percent lower than the previous month and the lowest monthly total since January 2021, officials said in a press release.
Under the executive action, migrants are screened by an asylum officer only if they spontaneously volunteer fear of being returned to their homeland. They are also screened under a higher standard. Those who are not screened are eligible for deportation.
The order does not affect some groups of migrants, such as unaccompanied children or those facing life-threatening emergencies, as well as those with CBP One appointments, according to DHS.
“Recent border security measures have made a meaningful impact on our ability to impose consequences for those crossing unlawfully, leading to a decline of 29% in U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions from May to June, with a more than 50% drop in the seven-day average from the announcement to the end of the month, and doubling the rate at which we removed noncitizens from U.S. Border Patrol custody in June,” said CBP’s acting Commissioner Troy A. Miller in a statement.
“We are continuing to work with international partners to go after transnational criminal organizations that traffic in chaos and prioritize profit over human lives,” he added.
More than 70,000 people have been removed or returned since June 5, according to CBP.
Mexican authorities have also been cracking down on northbound crossings, said Enrique Lucero, director of the Tijuana Migrant’s Affair Office.
Days after the executive action was implemented, Mexican officials confirmed that migrants who were being returned from the U.S. through Mexico who did not have legal basis to stay were being transported to migrant stations in southern Mexico.
Lucero also mentioned a recent agreement between the U.S. and Panama to reduce irregular migration through the Darien region, where more than 520,000 migrants transited last year, according to DHS.
Lucero noted it is becoming more difficult for migrants to reach the U.S. border but said the effects of the measures taken by various countries remain to be seen.
“The causes of migration are still there, poverty, wars, authoritarian regimes, climate change,” he said. “The only thing that is being done right now is to contain migration.”
