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A Drastic Drop in Migrant Arrivals on the Border: What’s Happening? A Drastic Drop in Migrant Arrivals on the Border: What’s Happening?
(about 3 hours later)
SAN DIEGO — In the sleeping quarters, green cots that were once occupied by hundreds of parents and children on a single night were stacked against the wall. For dinner on Tuesday, just two tables were set for the handful of families staying at the large shelter near the California border that takes in migrant families arriving from Mexico. SAN DIEGO — At its peak, the nonprofit shelter run by Jewish Family Service of San Diego held more than 300 migrants dropped off by United States immigration authorities after they crossed the border from Mexico. Some days this spring were so busy that new arrivals had to be sent to overflow sites.
At its peak, the facility run by Jewish Family Service of San Diego held more than 300 migrants dropped off by United States immigration authorities. Some days this spring were so busy that new arrivals had to be sent to overflow sites.
Now, the shelter is almost eerily empty. The number of people arriving there has plunged in recent weeks amid a precipitous decline in arrivals along the southern border, where the Department of Homeland Security said that apprehensions dropped 28 percent in June.Now, the shelter is almost eerily empty. The number of people arriving there has plunged in recent weeks amid a precipitous decline in arrivals along the southern border, where the Department of Homeland Security said that apprehensions dropped 28 percent in June.
Customs and Border Protection authorities encountered 104,344 people crossing from Mexico last month, compared with 144,278 in May, which had marked a 13-year monthly high. At the nonprofit shelter here in San Diego, the effects have been dramatic. On Friday of last week, not a single migrant arrived at the facility, the first time this had occurred since it opened in October. While migrant arrivals typically decline as the hot, hazardous summer months set in, the Department of Homeland Security said the drop in June was much larger than the 11 percent drop in June of last year.
The difference suggested that the Trump administration’s long push to curtail the arrival of migrants at the southwest border is finally showing results.
Since he took office, President Trump has made it a cornerstone of his administration to halt the flow of undocumented migrants, expanding security fencing, slowing processing at ports of entry and locking up record numbers of migrants.
The administration’s latest policies have gone a step further. The threat of tariffs helped push Mexico to deploy security forces on its own southern border, curtailing the flow of migrants from neighboring Guatemala.
A second initiative has forced many migrants to return to Mexico to await the outcome of their asylum or deportation cases in American immigration courts. More than 18,000 migrants, including asylum seekers, have been returned to Tijuana and other Mexican cities since the policy was put into place, according to Mexico’s National Migration Institute.
“These initiatives are making an impact,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
At the nonprofit shelter here in San Diego, the effects have been drastic. On Friday of last week, not a single migrant arrived — a first for the facility since it opened in October.
“We have been startled by the stark decline that happened virtually overnight,” said Kate Clark, senior director of immigration services at the shelter. “U.S. immigration authorities are not bringing families who have been processed to the shelter because they are returning them to Mexico.”“We have been startled by the stark decline that happened virtually overnight,” said Kate Clark, senior director of immigration services at the shelter. “U.S. immigration authorities are not bringing families who have been processed to the shelter because they are returning them to Mexico.”
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The Mexican city of Tijuana across the border, meanwhile, is still full of migrants — many of them turned back at the border under the Trump administration’s “remain in Mexico” program. Tijuana, by contrast, is still full of migrants — many of them turned back at the border under the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” program.
The Instituto Madre Asunta, a family shelter for migrant families just south of the border, has for several weeks been packing in more than three times the number of people it is designed to accommodate. Mothers and children from Central America and Haiti have been sleeping in a classroom converted into a dorm, many atop mattresses laid out on the ground.
“We’re doing our best to sleep 140 people but we only have 44 beds,” said Adelia Contini, the nun who runs the facility in a residential neighborhood that has a shelter for fathers and children that was also over capacity.
Some families have been at the Madre Asunta shelter for months, having been returned to Mexico by American immigration authorities with instructions to show up at the San Ysidro, Calif., port of entry at dawn on the day of their immigration hearing to be transported to court.
But there have been fewer people seeking shelter there in recent weeks, Ms. Contini said, suggesting that the number of migrants arriving at America’s doorstep may also be declining.
The flow of migrants normally dips during the summer, when temperatures climb into the triple digits along some parts of the border. But the precipitous decline last month could signal a new trend.
“The United States policy to return people to Mexico and the pressure on Mexico to stop the migration are having a big impact,” said Daniel Bribiescas, an immigration lawyer in Tijuana.“The United States policy to return people to Mexico and the pressure on Mexico to stop the migration are having a big impact,” said Daniel Bribiescas, an immigration lawyer in Tijuana.
The policy calling for returning migrants to Mexico if they had arrived at the southern border by land, announced in late January, was intended to prevent asylum seekers from spending years in the United States while they await the outcome of their immigration court cases. The Instituto Madre Asunta, a shelter for migrant families just south of the border, has for several weeks packed in more than three times the number of people it is designed to accommodate. Mothers and children from Central America and Haiti have been sleeping in a classroom converted into a dormitory, many atop mattresses on the floor.
More than 18,000 migrants, including asylum seekers, have been returned to Tijuana and other Mexican cities since the policy was implemented, according to Mexico’s National Migration Institute. Officially called Migrant Protection Protocols, the policy was introduced in Tijuana and has since been expanded to other parts of the border. On Tuesday, the program took effect in the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo, in the state of Tamaulipas, when 10 Cubans and Venezuelans were sent back across the border from the city of Laredo, Tex. “We’re doing our best to sleep 140 people but we only have 44 beds,” said Adelia Contini, the nun who runs the facility, which is in a residential neighborhood with a shelter for fathers and children that was also over capacity.
The policy initially targeted Central Americans, who have formed the largest share of migrants seeking refuge in the United States since 2014. It has grown to include migrants from other countries, such as Cuba and Venezuela. Typically, the migrants have received court dates several months after arriving at the border, stranding them in Mexico for many months. Some of those who have recently arrived are being given court dates in October. Some families have been at the Madre Asunta shelter for months, after American immigration authorities sent them to Mexico with instructions to show up at the San Ysidro, Calif., port of entry at dawn on the day of their immigration hearing to be transported to court.
Mexico’s own heightened border security is also having an effect. To make good on a deal struck with President Trump last month to avert trade tariffs, more than 20,000 Mexican security forces, including members Mexico’s newly-formed National Guard, have been deployed throughout Mexico’s southern and northern border states. Mexico’s own heightened border security is also having an effect. To make good on a deal struck with Mr. Trump last month to avert trade tariffs, more than 20,000 Mexican security forces, including members of the newly formed National Guard, have been deployed throughout the country’s southern and northern border states.
At well-traveled but typically unguarded crossing points, the Mexican authorities have been intercepting buses traveling along major migrant corridors. In Tijuana, Mexican officers have been stopping and arresting migrants who do not have papers to prove that they can legally remain in the country. The Mexican authorities have been trying to plug well-known but illegal crossing points along their southern border, and have set up checkpoints along major highways to intercept vehicles carrying undocumented migrants. In Tijuana, officers have been stopping and arresting migrants who do not have papers.
The International Organization for Migration began last week to provide free bus service from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, for those willing to return to Guatemala and Honduras. Buses left last week carrying 67 migrants back home. A second group of 70 people boarded buses on Tuesday. The United Nations agency plans to begin offering similar bus service from Tijuana in the coming days. The Department of Homeland Security said there had been a “substantial increase” in the number of interdictions on Mexico’s southern border.
None of those transported on the I.O.M. buses were seeking asylum in the United States, an agency official said. In a conference call with reporters on Wednesday, a Customs and Border Protection official said Mexico’s deployment of forces on its northern frontier had helped stop “large groups” of migrants before they could cross into the United States. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said agents had apprehended 15 groups of 100 or more migrants in June, down from 48 such groups in May.
Meanwhile, at least one commercial bus company has begun offering direct service from Tijuana to Tapachula, a Mexican city close to the Guatemalan border. “I would attribute to Mexico for making some difference,” the official said.
Dozens of migrants who said they were considering the possibility of returning home jammed a small travel agency in Tijuana on Monday. The decline in arrivals in June has helped reduce overcrowding at border facilities. About 200 children are currently being held in Border Patrol centers, compared with roughly 2,700 in May, the official said. He said a $4.6 billion border aid package approved last month by Congress, which gave about $3 billion to the Department of Health and Human Services, had allowed that agency to more quickly move children out of Border Patrol facilities and into its own, better-equipped shelters.
Jenaro Mejia, 54, an asylum seeker from Honduras, said that his first court hearing in the United States was set for Aug. 5. “We don’t know if we will win asylum or not,” he said. Faced with the uncertainty and the prospect of languishing for several more months in Mexico, Mr. Mejia said he planned to go home and would not return. “We have contacted family to buy us tickets,” said Mr. Mejia, as his son Fabio, 15, bleary-eyed from exhaustion, stood by his side. With more Central Americans stuck in Mexico and hoping to go home, the International Organization for Migration began last week to provide free bus service from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, to Guatemala and Honduras. Buses left last week carrying 67 migrants back home. A second group of 70 boarded buses on Tuesday. The agency plans to begin offering a similar bus service from Tijuana in the coming days.
But most migrants said they could not afford the 3,000 peso, or about $155, one-way fare for a bus ticket back to Central America; their money already had gone to pay smugglers who had guided them to the United States. “Some of us sold our land to realize the dream of coming here. We don’t have the money for a ticket home,” said Carlos Mauricio Lopez, a Guatemalan migrant whose first court hearing was set for Oct. 4. None of those on the I.O.M. buses said they had been seeking asylum in the United States, according to Christopher Gascon, the agency’s chief of mission in Mexico.
Critics have said that the remain-in-Mexico policy endangers migrants who fled violence in their home countries in search of safe haven, because Mexican border cities are also often unsafe. In addition, the program makes it difficult for migrants to secure an American lawyer to represent them before an immigration judge, undermining their ability to successfully petition for asylum in the United States. Dozens of migrants who said they were considering returning home jammed a small travel agency in Tijuana on Monday.
At the shelter in San Diego, arrivals have been down all week — only five migrant families arrived each day on Monday and on Tuesday. Jenaro Mejia, 54, an asylum seeker from Honduras, said his first court hearing in the United States was set for Aug. 5. “We don’t know if we will win asylum or not,” he said. Faced with the prospect of languishing for several more months in Mexico, Mr. Mejia said he planned to go home and would not return. “We have contacted family to buy us tickets,” said Mr. Mejia, as his son Fabio, 15, bleary-eyed from exhaustion, stood by his side.
“Homeland Security keeps enrolling those seeking asylum in Migration Protection Protocols despite the ability and willingness of nonprofits in the United States to continue to serve the migrants,” said Ms. Clark, the official with Jewish Family Service. But most migrants said they could not afford the 3,000 pesos, or about $155, for a private, one-way bus ticket back to Central America; their money had already gone to smugglers who guided them to the United States. “Some of us sold our land to realize the dream of coming here. We don’t have the money for a ticket home,” said Carlos Mauricio López, a Guatemalan migrant whose first court hearing was set for Oct. 4.
Only nationals from countries such as India, China and Russia, countries whose citizens are not subjected to the policy, continue to trickle in, she said. The only exceptions among Latin Americans are those who have a child or another family member with a serious medical issue. A Honduran man who identified himself only as Jonnie arrived with his 4-year-old girl, who was suffering from advanced scoliosis for which he said she was in critical need of surgery. Critics have said that the Remain in Mexico policy endangers migrants who fled violence in their home countries, because Mexican border cities are also often unsafe. In addition, the program makes it difficult for migrants to secure an American lawyer to represent them before an immigration judge, undermining their ability to petition for asylum.
Another Honduran, who identified herself as Seila, said that she was allowed to proceed to the shelter with her two children because her husband, Edwin, had contracted a mysterious infection and had been hospitalized in San Diego. At the shelter in San Diego, only nationals from countries like India, China and Russia, whose citizens are not subjected to the Remain in Mexico policy, continue to trickle in, Ms. Clark said. The only exceptions to the policy among Latin Americans are those who have a child or another family member with a serious medical issue. A Honduran man who identified himself only as Jonnie arrived with his 4-year-old girl, who had advanced scoliosis. He said she was in critical need of surgery.
Elsewhere along the Mexican side of the border, there were also signs that fewer migrants were arriving from the south.
In Nuevo Laredo, on the Mexican side of the border opposite Laredo, Tex., the number of residents in the half-dozen migrant shelters in the city has dropped sharply in recent weeks, after months of operating well above capacity. At the Casa del Migrante Nazareth, the number of migrants, nearly all of them intending to seek asylum in the United States, has hovered around 100 in recent days, well below the peak of 290 at the beginning of May.
The Casa del Migrante Amar, another shelter in the city, was housing about 100 migrants on Wednesday, about a fifth of the number that crammed the center for weeks earlier this year.
Shelter operators said there could be several reasons for the drop, including stricter occupancy limits imposed by the shelters, and the city’s reputation for being a dangerous place, which has perhaps compelled migrants to head to other border cities. But some advocates here also said it was possible that the joint Mexico-United States crackdown on undocumented migration could be slowing the flow.
“It could be dissuading migrants,” Father Julio López, who runs the Casa del Migrante Nazareth, said of the new bilateral strategies. They might be biding their time in their home countries or elsewhere on the migrant trail, he said, “waiting to see what will happen.”