The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) has been expecting increasing numbers of migrants to appear at the southern border with Mexico, and numbers from March show that increase in real time, with 210,000 arrests, Reuters reported.
Raul Ortiz, CBP chief, noted they have encountered migrants from 157 countries, and that “every sector is busier than they were back in ‘21,” Fox News reported. There were 164,973 migrant encounters in February, up significantly from 101,099 in February of 2021.
The March arrest numbers marked the highest monthly total in two decades, according to Reuters.
Roughly half of migrants encountered in March were expelled under Title 42, which is set to expire in May following a policy change by the Biden administration, Reuters said. Title 42 expulsions were implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic but are no longer needed as the pandemic has eased, U.S. health officials said, Reuters reported.
When President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, he promised to reverse some of the immigration policies adopted by former President Donald Trump, the story said.
Republicans claims Biden’s decisions on immigration have encouraged more migrants to enter the U.S. illegally, Reuters reported.
