Border Arrests Expected to Have Risen in August

Illegal border crossings from Mexico into the US may see a slight uptick in August, ending a five-month decline streak, according to US Customs and Border Protection officials. With about 54,000 arrests reported through Thursday and projections suggesting 58,000 by the month's end, numbers are still near four-year lows. The decline from last year's peak of 250,000 arrests is attributed to increased Mexican enforcement and Biden's temporary asylum suspension in June. Arrests stood at 56,408 in July.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas highlighted the ongoing reduction in border encounters since September 2020. He called on Congress to revisit failed legislation aimed at suspending asylum processing when certain thresholds were hit, easing immigration court congestion, and increasing Border Patrol staff. Republicans, including presidential nominee Donald Trump, have deemed the bill insufficient.

San Diego led in arrests among the Border Patrol's nine sectors in August, followed by El Paso and Tucson. The airport-based entry program for nationalities from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, paused briefly due to fraud concerns, saw more than 520,000 entries through July. Deportation flights to Colombia and Ecuador contributed to reduced arrests of their nationals, with Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras remaining the top three nationalities for border arrests. (This story was generated by Newser's AI chatbot. Source: the AP)