Illegal border crossings dropped by half since Title 42's end: US homeland security chief

Since the United StatesTitle 42 migration policy ended, the nation's border authorities, as per the US homeland security chief, have witnessed a fifty per cent drop in "encounters" with undocumented migrants crossing the southern border.

Talking to CNN during a talk show, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said thatthe US Border Patrol has seen a marked reduction in the number of crossings over the past two days since the end of the policy.

"Over the past two days, the United States border patrol has experienced a 50 per cent drop in the number of encounters, versus what we were experiencing earlier in the week."

Nevertheless, he cautioned that "we are in Day Three," and that it is "too early" to predict the flow of future border crossings.

However, Representative Mark Green, the Republican chairman of the Homeland Security Committee in the House of Representatives, has disputed the figures, saying that more people crossed the border this week than at any other time in US history. Green attributed this to a surge in people crossing the border ahead of Title 42's end.

"This week has seen more crossings than any week in our history," he told CNN.

Introduced by the previous president Donald Trump during Covid times, the Title 42 policy allowed the US to quickly expel migrants on public health grounds. However, that power ended last Thursday with the government's declaration that Covid-19 is no longer an official public health emergency, reports AFP.

The country has now reverted to its previous immigration law, called Title 8.

At the same time, Joe Biden's administration is also attempting to create a system which allows for expanded asylum and legal routes in some cases. However, it will also come with strict penalties for those who cross the border illegally, including five-year bans on entering the US and possible criminal charges.

The Biden administration was initially prepared for a surge in border crossings ahead of the end of Title 42 and deployed troops to the border. Nevertheless, Mayorkas said that approximately 6,300 people crossed the border on Friday, with 4,200 crossing on Saturday.

He described these figures as "markedly down" compared to the 10,000 per day who crossed earlier in the week.

(With inputs from agencies)

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