With the future of the Trump administration’s border restrictions remaining before the U.S. Supreme Court, the number of immigrant encounters along the country’s southwestern border increased by about 4% from October to November.
A total of 204,155 migrants were encountered at the US-Mexico border in November, according to US Customs and Border Protection data.
CBP believes that large numbers of people “fleeing the crumbling communist regimes of Nicaragua and Cuba” are responsible for the increase in encounters. According to CBP, migrants from Cuba or Nicaragua accounted for about 35% of the unique encounters encountered at the southern border in November.
A unique encounter with immigrants from Nicaragua and Cuba, in a country whose citizens are largely exempt from rapid deportation under Title 42 restrictions, was 55% on its southwest border from September to November. increased more than
Dating in the Tucson, Arizona area increased slightly in November as numbers in the Yuma area dropped slightly.
The future of Title 42 is currently unknown. The Supreme Court on Monday ruled to grant emergency requests by 19 Republican state attorneys general who intervened in support of the policy. The court will hear oral arguments, determine whether the state can intervene, and is expected to make a decision by the end of the court’s next term in June.
Meanwhile, border restrictions set to end on December 21 remain in effect. Pandemic-era health policies allow border officials to quickly deport asylum-seeking migrants to Mexico or their home countries.
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Along the southwestern border, unique encounters with people from Mexico and northern Central American countries declined by just over 4% from October to November.
Migrants from these countries accounted for about 30% of unique border encounters in November, down from 53% for the same period last year, according to CBP. Immigrants from Mexico and the Northern Triangle of Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have long been subject to Title 42 deportation.
While encounters from Nicaragua and Cuba increased, CBP touted a newly implemented immigration process for Venezuela that led to a significant drop in encounters with Venezuelan immigrants.
A new process announced in October will allow border officials to expedite deportation to Mexico if some Venezuelan migrants enter Mexico between ports of entry or without a permit.
The process also included a humanitarian program that allowed up to 24,000 Venezuelans to enter the country after completing a rigorous application process from Venezuela with a helping sponsor in the United States.
According to CBP data, unique encounters of Venezuelan migrants along the southwest border decreased by more than 81% from September to November after the process was implemented.
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Encounters with Venezuelans fell consistently to about 100 a day throughout November, from about 1,100 a day the week before the process was announced, according to CBP.
Advocates have already begun this journey, which has effectively expanded Title 42 to include previously exempt nationalities, when Venezuelans who have no contacts in the United States and/or the program were announced. It has been criticized as discrimination against possible immigrants.
The Tucson area of Arizona saw a roughly 2% increase in immigrant encounters from October to November, with an increase of about 550 encounters. There were a total of 24,700 encounters in the Tucson sector in November.
The Yuma sector had a total of 24,751 encounters in November, down about 1%.
Got news tips or story ideas about the border and its communities? Contact reporters at josecastaneda@arizonarepublic.com or reach out to us on Twitter @joseicastaneda..
