U.S, December 2, 2024 (Punjab Khabarnama Bureau) –The number of migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada fell in November, a senior U.S. border official told Reuters, part of a months-long trend that undercuts President-elect Donald Trump’s claim illegal immigration is out of control.
U.S. Border Patrol arrested some 47,000 migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in November, according to a preliminary tally, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection official said on Sunday, requesting anonymity to share unpublished data. The figure is a decrease from nearly 57,000 in October and the lowest monthly total since July 2020, during the COVID pandemic and when Trump was still in office.
At the border with Canada, about 700 migrants were caught crossing illegally, down from 1,300 in October, the official said.
Trump, a Republican who recaptured the White House last month, has promised to crack down on illegal immigration and criticized Democratic President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris for record numbers of migrants caught illegally crossing during Biden’s administration. In a Truth Social post last week, Trump vowed to impose 25% tariffs on all goods from Mexico and Canada unless the countries stop migrants and illicit fentanyl from entering the U.S., a move that could trigger a trade war if Trump follows through when he takes office on Jan. 20. In response, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum warned the tariffs would have dire consequences for both countries and suggested possible retaliation. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida on Friday. U.S. arrests of migrants at the Mexico border have fallen dramatically since Biden imposed restrictions in June that blocked most people crossing illegally from claiming asylum. At the same time, Mexico has stepped up immigration enforcement, stopping hundreds of thousands of migrants en route to the U.S. since January.
“We really think these sustained reductions demonstrate the continued success of our work to strengthen international collaboration to address migration,” the official said.
Summary: A senior official reported that migrant arrests at both the US-Mexico and US-Canada borders dropped in November.