When Title 42, the Trump-era policy restricting entry along the US southern border, expired, many expected to see a surge in border crossings. Quite the opposite has happened. The drop highlights the value of taking a regional approach to a regional problem.
In May, the Biden administration replaced Title 42 with stricter regulations aimed at gaining control of the southern border. The Administration set quotas by county on how many migrants could enter. Most asylum seekers are required to have family already in the US. Migrants crossing a country before reaching the US have to first apply for asylum in that country. Migrants even have to use an app, CBP One, to apply for asylum. Violators can face a five-year ban on their application. In addition, Mexico has continued to partner with the US to address the problem. Mexico suspended permits allowing the migrants to traverse the country; and it stopped 450,000 transients in 2022—nearly triple what it did in 2018. After the rules changed, border apprehensions dropped from nearly 10,000 per day to 6,300. July apprehensions were down 27% from the previous year.
In addition to the other measures introduced, the US and Mexico partnered to address this regional problem. While future borders will likely be more porous, they’ll still need to be managed. Allowing legitimate workers to fulfill temporary employment needs will be part of truly effective border management, but so will controlling who enters permanently. The new regulations help to start the development of more sophisticated border management.
In July, the US admitted 50,000 migrants at official crossings—44,700 of which had CBP One appointments. While it may not have been intuitive that an app would work, it appears to be successful. In the absence of Congressional action that provides a clear vision of what the US border should be, these measures are a step in the right direction.
Sources:
Mary Beth Sheridan, “Mexico Faces Crisis at the Border as US Migration Policy Tightens,” Washington Post, A12, 14 May 2023; see also https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/05/13/border-mexico-migrants-title-42/
Colleen Long, “Title 42 has Ended. Here’s What it Did, and How US Immigration Policy is Changing,” Associated Press, 12 May 2023; accessed from https://apnews.com/article/immigration-biden-border-title-42-mexico-asylum
Elliot Spagat, “Illegal Crossings on the US-Mexico Border Rose in July but were Still Down from Last Year,” US News, 18 August 2023; accessed from https://apnews.com/article/biden-border-crossings-immigration-asylum
Photo: Meridith Kohut (New York Times/Redux)
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