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The seven-day average of migrant apprehensions has dropped more than 40% to less than 2,400 encounters per day since President Joe Biden’s executive action barring asylum at the US southern border went into effect about three weeks ago, the Department of Homeland Security said.

Border authorities apprehended about 1,600 migrants along the US southern border on Monday, a drop from about 1,900 apprehensions on Sunday, a source familiar with the data said.

Update: As of June 5, 2024, the map and dataset has grown to 471 towers. We have also added the locations of Tethered Aerostat Radar Systems (TARS) and Tactical Aerostat Systems (TAS).

To provide researchers with the tools they need to analyze the impact of U.S. border security policy, EFF is releasing a new map and dataset of more than 290 surveillance towers installed by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) along the border with Mexico. Compiled using public records, satellite imagery, road trips, and even exploration in virtual reality, EFF's data serves as a living snapshot of the so-called "virtual wall," from the California coast to the lower tip of Texas. We've also included roughly 50 locations CBP has proposed for its next round of towers, as well as automated license plate readers (ALPRs) placed at Border Patrol checkpoints.

In January, the estimated number of migrants reached a 20-year peak, and border facilities started to become overwhelmed. In response, the Biden administration announced stricter measures that look more like Trump-era immigration policies. Just this week, the Biden White House announced a pause on its flagship immigration program, which intended to overhaul the asylum processing system to make it easier to enter the US on humanitarian grounds. 

As political pressure increases, money is pouring into shiny new technology as a proposed quick(ish) fix. 

The number of encounters with migrants attempting to cross into the U.S. with no authorization dropped 9% in May, compared with April.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection also reported a 17% decrease in encounters with migrants, compared to the same month a year ago.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is installing and in some cases rapidly expanding existing visible and disguised surveillance technologies along the U.S. border with Mexico, turning vast swaths of the borderlands into a virtual surveillance state, according to a new report.

Much of the surveillance technology was originally developed for military use, says the report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), asserting that CBP is planning to “drastically expand its surveillance capabilities with new towers, artificial intelligence, drones, and even four-legged robots.”

This week’s high-profile visits to the Texas border by President Biden and former President Trump were predictable campaign theater. Both candidates pointed an accusing finger at the other, assigning blame for a problem that deeply concerns many voters. The failure last month of the latest immigration reform package on Capitol Hill further highlights what has become a decades-old policy stalemate.

But the issue isn’t going away, and neither party can afford to ignore the crisis. According to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the number of border apprehensions rose from 1.86 million in the 2021 fiscal year to about 2.5 million in 2022 and about the same in 2023. The influx is overwhelming border communities and overstretching the asylum system, and the busing of migrants by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to Democrat-run “sanctuary cities” has put pressure on blue states too.

Fentanyl comes in through ports of entry, not unauthorized migrants: Law enforcement agencies and the facts on the ground agree that most or all the illicit drugs smuggled into the country enter alongside commercial traffic at legal points of entry. 90% of all fentanyl seized at the border is at ports of entry in commercial trucks and passenger cars, not in the backpacks of migrants crossing on foot and looking to present themselves to Border Patrol agents in order to apply for asylum. The Drug Enforcement Administration has repeatedly underscored this fact. And James Mandryck, Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Office of Intelligence, Customs and Border Protection, recently also confirmed this fact to Congress.

Fentanyl is primarily trafficked by U.S. citizens: The evidence points to the fact that most of the fentanyl smuggled into the U.S. is done by U.S. citizens and paid for by U.S. citizens who are the ultimate consumers. This is a point CBP’s Deputy Assistant Commissioner also confirmed in a recent Congressional hearing. The organizations that traffic in hard drugs do not risk their product on desperate people facing steep odds and a dangerous crossing who are seeking out U.S. authorities to whom they can surrender themselves while asking for asylum.

When the U.S. Border Patrol tallies the arrests of those illegally crossing the border with Mexico in the past fiscal year, which finished at the end of September, the numbers will shatter a two-decade old record. Through the end of August, the Border Patrol had already made more than two million apprehensions, well above the previous record of 1.7 million set more than two decades ago.

What those numbers don’t tell you is that for the past 30 years, the United States has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into “securing” its southern border. Yet to hear the politicians tell it, the border has never been more insecure than it is today. If U.S. leaders want to address the problem rather than just feeding a political fire, it is time to stop chasing the illusion of a secure border and start working with neighbours across the region, including Canada, to tackle the political and economic roots of the crisis.

Biden administration officials can argue their policies are an improvement over what could be an even worse US approach at the border. The administration has established a new humanitarian parole program to allow more asylum seekers safe pathways into the US, though they are limited to certain nationalities, and among them, people who can afford to pay for plane tickets and other travel, are able to obtain passports, and have family members in the United States wealthy enough to apply to sponsor them with the US government. The Biden administration has also made extensive use of temporary protected status and raised refugee admissions caps. 

Still, the Biden asylum rule and digital metering policies are part of a larger effort by the United States to deter irregular migration at the US-Mexico border. The US has sought agreements with many Latin American governments, including Mexico and Guatemala, aimed at deterring migration. In one such arrangement, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has agreed to accept some non-Mexican asylum seekers who are rapidly removed or returned “voluntarily” by the United States.

Policy Review: Vol. 9, Article 4, 2017, - SDP

Third, awareness must be raised in both countries, especially along the borders, because increasing education is an effective and cost-efficient method to reducing vulnerability to trafficking. There should be a comprehensive, compulsory curriculum in both the U.S. and Mexico on human trafficking which can be taught annually in schools. This will decrease human trafficking because students will be knowledgeable of scams that lead to trafficking and thus will be better equipped to identify possible trafficking victims if ever needed. In the U.S., children need to be aware of what trafficking is and how to identify victims, especially in the border states. As such, the curriculum should include the basics on human trafficking, how to identify human trafficking victims, and the correct response to witnessing a situation of human trafficking. In Mexico, a curriculum on the various scam methods and dangers of trafficking is vital. This curriculum should also include how to identify victims and what to do in situations of witnessing a potential case of trafficking. Akin to the previous two portions of the recommendation, the third upholds the three criteria as well. It protects vulnerable persons through education, and it increases cases of identification of victims. It can be “enforced” and it would not be overly difficult to implement once a standard curriculum was agreed upon. Finally, this part of the recommendation would not intensify other issues between the U.S. and Mexico.