Border crossings come by half; Even less migrants entering South Texas

McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) - - The variety of migrants attempting to cross the Southwest border from Mexico after Title 42 was lifted visited half this weekend, according to the Department of Homeland Security, and migrant crossings were down by two-thirds in Texas' Rio Grande Valley.

" Over the last 3 days, we have seen around a 50% decline in encounters compared to the days leading up to completion of Title 42. It is still early though, and we are mindful that smugglers will continue to look for methods to benefit from the modification in border policies," Blas Nuñez-Neto, primary operating officer at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, told press reporters throughout an online rundown Monday early morning. "It's still prematurely to draw firm conclusions. We are carefully viewing what's occurring. But we are positive that the strategy we have actually developed by our U.S. government will work over time."

But he cautioned that law enforcement is still greatly surged to the Southwest border region - - which consists of a heavy concentration in South Texas

" It is necessary to note that while Title 42 has ended, the conditions that are causing hemispheric migration at unprecedented levels have not altered," he said.

The variety of migrants, however, is decreasing substantially, particularly in South Texas.

Law enforcement keeping post-Title 42 watch on border in South Texas.

RGV Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez tweeted Friday - - the day after Title 42 was lifted - that migrant border crossings in the Rio Grande Valley dropped 66%, compared to levels just days prior to. RGV Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez speaks with media on May 5 next to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in Brownsville, Texas.

Chavez called Friday "Day 1 of Title 8." That's the enduring migration elimination law that the Biden administration has actually reverted to after Title 42 was withdrawed on Thursday night. Title 42 was a public health policy enacted in March 2020 under the Trump administration during the coronavirus pandemic that avoided migrants from claiming asylum at the U.S. border in order to stop the spread of the infection.

Once Title 42 went away, DHS went back to Title 8 and announced serious "consequences" to those who do not attempt "legal paths into the United States," according to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

This includes a five-year ban on those caught entering in between legal ports of entry; or those not requesting an asylum interview at ports via the CBP One app. Migrants also need to make an application for asylum in the very first country they encounter, not just in the United States. Migrants who are discovered ineligible and returned to Mexico or their home nations and who attempt to return prior to five years face prosecution in the United States, and as much as a 20-year restriction on attempting to cross once again.

CBP One app ends up being migrants' last hope for asylum.

From Friday through Sunday, over 2,400 migrants were expelled to Mexico, Nuñez-Neto stated.

Chavez posted images on social networks revealing the removals of asylum-seekers from South Texas across worldwide bridges back to Mexico.

Asylum-seeking immigrants were returned at ports of entry in the Rio Grande Valley and forced to walk back to Mexico on Friday, the day after Title 42 lifted. (Photos by U.S. Border Patrol).

Revealing removal of migrants is something that U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat who represents South Texas, has long advocated, and has often times spoken about to Border Report. He says that will send out a message to drug cartels and other human smuggling organizations, as well as to migrants who are thinking about heading north without prior U.S. authorization, to not try the crossings.

Migrants 'on holding pattern' because of Title 8 repercussions, advocates say.

Numerous migrant advocacy organizations state the new policies are too severe and do not provide enough factor to consider for susceptible populations.

Groups of migrants are seen waiting under tents in 90-degree heat on May 5 after crossing into Brownsville, Texas, from Matamoros, Mexico, simply days prior to the end of Title 42. After Title 8 entered into effect on Friday, the number of migrant crossings in the area come by 66%. (Sandra Sanchez/Border Report).

" Title 42 and comparable deterrence-only policies might develop more mayhem than order. Instead, we need a well balanced method that recognizes that legal pathways and alternatives to the trek to the border are essential components of disempowering smugglers and conquering misinformation," stated Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of America's Voice.

CBP concerned about overcrowding after federal judge obstructs migrant parole policy.

Cárdenas says that the United States still does not have sufficient legal paths.

" Everything that was broken and dysfunctional about our migration system prior to Title 42 is still broken and inefficient. Our legal paths to enter the nation with a visa are still inadequate, our refugee program is still too little and our asylum system, which was not designed for the volume of individuals looking for security, offered the state of the visa and refugee systems, stays under-resourced," she said.

Border Patrol and CBP officers move materials and watch groups of migrants on May 5 in an area called "Camp Monument," where 35,000 asylum-seeking migrants, mainly Venezuelans, came throughout into Brownsville, Texas, considering that mid-April. After Title 42 lifted, the numbers turning themselves in substantially dropped.

Mayorkas says that Mexico has actually accepted take back Venezuelans expelled from the United States. And provided the photos that Chavez posted, it appears they are doing so.

ICE: Repatriation flights will continue after Title 42 ends.

Nuñez-Neto stated Mexico likewise is bolstering law enforcement on its southern border, as is Guatemala, the country to Mexico's south. He stated Panama and Colombia are "carrying out an extraordinary collaboration to attack smuggling networks operating in the Darién (Gap).".

He stated "thousands of non-citizens including single adults" were expelled over the weekend to 10 countries, including Colombia, Honduras and Peru. "Thousands more are being kept in ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) centers" and might quickly be expelled, he stated.

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The Welcome Center in Brownsville, which is run by the nonprofits Team Brownsville and Good Neighbor Settlement House, on Sunday did not receive busloads of migrants launched by DHS officials, as normal.

Kathy Harrington, a volunteer with Team Brownsville, published to other volunteers on their Facebook website: "The huge rise of Asylum Seekers came before the end of Title 42. The numbers we served on the first 2 days of Title 8 were a lot lower than anticipated.