US arrested 210,000 migrants at Mexico border in March, highest monthly total in two decades
- US President Joe Biden pledged to reverse many of Donald Trump’s hardline immigration policies, but has struggled both operationally and politically
- US officials are preparing for as many as 18,000 migrant encounters per day in the coming weeks, but are also readying for smaller increases
US border authorities arrested 210,000 migrants attempting to cross the border with Mexico in March, the highest monthly total in two decades and underscoring challenges in the coming months for US President Joe Biden.
The March total is a 24 per cent increase from the same month a year earlier, when 169,000 migrants were picked up at the border, the start of a rise in migration that left thousands unaccompanied children stuck in crowded border patrol stations for days while they awaited placement in overwhelmed government-run shelters.
Biden, a Democrat who took office in January 2021, pledged to reverse many of the hardline immigration policies of his Republican predecessor, former US President Donald Trump, but has struggled both operationally and politically with high numbers of attempted crossings.
Republicans, who hope to gain control of the US Congress in November 8 midterm elections, say Biden’s rollback of Trump-era policies has encouraged more illegal immigration.
Biden officials have cautioned that migration could rise further after US health officials said they will end a pandemic-era border order by May 23. The order, known as Title 42, allows asylum seekers and other migrants to be rapidly expelled to Mexico to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
