The number of illegal border crossings decreased in January

The number of people entering the United States illegally from Mexico has fallen by 50 percent in the past month, authorities said Tuesday, as President Biden faces increasing pressure from both parties over security at the border.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said it encountered migrants between ports of entry 124,220 times in January, up from more than 249,000 the month before.

The numbers don't change the fact that the number of people entering the United States has reached record levels during the Biden administration, and crossings typically drop in January. Immigration trends are affected by weather patterns and other issues, making it difficult to draw conclusions from monthly figures.

But the drop in border crossings was a glimmer of good news for the Biden administration, as House Republicans on Tuesday impeached Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas on charges of willfully refusing to enforce border laws. (Their first attempt ended in defeat.)

The numbers also came as a relief to several major U.S. cities that have struggled with the burden of sheltering migrants in the winter.

In New York City, where more than 65,000 migrants are housed in hotels, shelters and tents, the number of migrants entering the city's care fell last month to about 1,600 per week, a 55 percent drop from 3,600 per week in December.

Kayla Mamelak, spokeswoman for Mayor Eric Adams, said the arrival of migrants in the city directly corresponds to border crossings. The number of migrants in city shelters has fallen 5 percent over the past five weeks, partly because of fewer arrivals and partly because of stricter shelter limits.

Denver, another city struggling with an influx of migrants, received 3,041 migrants in January, less than half of December's total of 6,824, according to official data. Only 13 migrants arrived in the city on February 13, compared to 26 on February 12, the data showed.

“If the influx of migrants this year is like last year, it will happen in waves. These downshifts will be critical for the city of Denver to take a break, learn how to manage its resources and batten down the hatches on what comes next,” said DJ Summers, director of policy and research at the Common Sense Institute in Denver.

Many of the migrants arrived in Democratic-run cities such as Boston, Denver, Chicago and New York after traveling on buses sent by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who says cities far from the border are bearing the burden of migrants state to share. Democratic mayors have accused him of using people as props.

Troy A. Miller, acting head of the border agency, said the decline in border crossings is the result of “seasonal trends, as well as improved enforcement efforts” by Border Patrol and “our international partners.”

In late December, Mr. Biden sent Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and other top U.S. officials to Mexico City, where they met with President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to find a way to slow the wave of illegal crossings.

Since that meeting, Mexico has intercepted some migrants traveling north to the United States, said Jennifer Piper, program director of the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization active in Mexico.

The United States has also increased pressure on countries such as Panama and Guatemala to take measures to prevent migrants from advancing into Mexico.

Adam Isacson of the Washington Office on Latin America, a human rights group, said the decline in numbers was likely related to a few factors. Among them were rumors that U.S. officials would close the border in December; another was increased enforcement by Mexico, including removing migrants from trains heading to the southern border and strengthening checkpoints.

Mr Isacson also noted that the number of border crossings regularly drops from December to January.

“It seems to be a combination of the weather (rainy in the south, bitter cold at night at the border), and people don't like to leave home during the end-of-year holidays unless they have absolutely no choice,” he says. said.

Immigration has taken on enormous political importance as this year's presidential elections approach. Mr. Biden has blamed his predecessor and perceived challenger, former President Donald J. Trump, for undermining a bipartisan immigration deal in Congress that would crack down on the border.

And immigration experts say they expect another surge in numbers soon.

Casa Alitas, a Catholic agency that runs several shelters in Tucson, said the numbers are steadily rising again.

In October, November and December, the reception network received approximately 1,000 migrants every day. That number dropped to an average of about 500 per day in the first three weeks of January. This week the numbers were again close to 1,000.

Diego Piña Lopez, director of the agency, said the numbers had risen “slowly but surely”.

Andy Newman contributed reporting from New York.