Illegal entry at US-Mexico border dropped by 29 percent in June
China DailyFILE PHOTO: Unaccompanied minor migrants wait to be transported by the US Border Patrol after crossing the Rio Grande River into the United States from Mexico in La Joya, Texas, US, April 7, 2021. Arrests for illegally crossing the US-Mexico border dropped by 29 percent in June over the previous month, the lowest count of Joe Biden's presidency, according to figures announced Tuesday by the US Customs and Border Protection. CBP said the June border encounter number is the lowest since January 2021 as well as lower than the number of encounters in June 2019, the last comparable year prior to the pandemic The drop came as Biden has been repeatedly criticized for the surge of border crossings in recent years and the public sentiment about immigration is at its lowest in two decades. "Recent border security measures have made a meaningful impact on our ability to impose consequences for those crossing unlawfully," said Troy Miller, acting CPB protection commissioner Asylum processing at ports of entry has continued under Biden's proclamation. The American Civil Liberties Union and a coalition of immigrant advocacy groups sued the Biden administration last month over his June 4 order, saying it differs little from a similar move during the Trump administration that was blocked by the courts, violates US asylum law and increases the chances of American officials sending migrants back to places where they can be harmed.