In November, US authorities arrested approximately 46,700 people for unlawfully crossing the border from Mexico, a 17% decrease from October and a new low for Joe Biden’s presidency, according to an official on Tuesday.
The arrest total fell more than 80% from a record high of almost 250,000 in December, casting doubt on predictions of a spike ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
According to a US Customs and Border Protection official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the data are preliminary and not made public, US agents made approximately 700 arrests on the Canadian border in November, a decrease from 1,283 in October.
Last week, Trump promised to impose sweeping new tariffs on Mexico, Canada, and China as soon as he enters office in order to battle illegal immigration and drugs. He railed against an inflow of migrants illegally entering the United States, prompting a harsh response from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, who noted this year’s dramatic decline.
U.S. border arrests plummeted by over half after Mexican authorities strengthened enforcement within their own borders in December, and then by roughly half again after the Biden administration imposed stringent limits on requesting asylum at the border.
The November total was down 16% from 56,530 in October, and the lowest since July 2020, when there were 38,536 arrests. It was also lower each month from October 2018 to August 2019, during Trump’s first term as President.
