Shelters on the U.S. southern border are seeing a drop of up to 60 percent in migrant populations. The reason is likely President Joe Biden’s recent Executive Order limiting asylum claims that went into effect in June combined with efforts by the Mexican government.
“We started seeing a much clearer reduction after Biden’s executive order went into effect, “Ruben Garcia, executive director of Rescue Mission in El Paso, told NBC, “but we were already seeing a decline because of Mexico’s enforcement. I think if Mexico stopped its energetic enforcement, it would make Biden’s executive order very hard to enforce.”
Rescue Mission said that they were previously seeing up too 200 beds a night filled. That has dropped to 80 or 90. This lines up with the White House’s own numbers that claim a drop of 50 percent since the implementation of the order.
While the order likely accounts for some of the drop, the rest has to do with ongoing diplomatic efforts by the Biden Administration to pressure Mexico into handling more of the asylum process. Mexico’s reticence to intercept northern-bound migrants has been a sore point of contention between the two countries. President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, plans to continue the efforts of her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, in stepping up interception.
This comes at a delicate time in American politics. Nationwide, Americans say in polls they trust Republicans more than Democrats when it comes to securing the Southern border. Biden has a reputation as an open-border advocate despite the fact he has done far more to secure it than figures like Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Because of diplomatic work across Latin and South America, hundreds of thousands of would-be illegal border crossers have been able to navigate legal channels to the United States.
Meanwhile, Republicans continue to attack Biden’s apparent successor, Vice President Kamala Harris as a failed border czar despite her never actually holding that title. Nonetheless, Harris helped oversee many of the policies of Biden’s that are now bearing fruit in reducing migration.
Immigration is one of the lead issues with American voters heading into the election. Former president and current convicted felon Donald Trump largely owes his success in the 2024 Republican primary to his history of harsh and often unconstitutional policies aimed at punishing migrants and asylum seekers. Illegal immigration is certain to be a wedge issue when Trump and Harris finally meet on the debate stage.
While undocumented border crossings remain high, Harris can point to her and Biden’s efforts as having a significant impact, as well as the stalled immigration bill that was partially killed in the U.S. Congress thanks to Trump’s demand so that he could use it as a campaign issue.
The facts are that Trump’s draconian actions on the border simply did not do much to stop people crossing the border illegally. He oversaw a massive decline in legal immigration, but illegal crossings remained steady while asylum claims languished unheard. Biden’s efforts, by all measures, have been more effective.
