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Pakistan's Premier Multilingual News Agency

US border crossings reportedly halved after a change in rules

US Secretary of Homeland Security claimed a significant decline in US border crossings.

Washington, 16 May 2023 (GNP): On Sunday, US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas claimed a significant decline in US border crossings. 

He said, since the elimination of the nation’s Title 42 migration policy, the border authorities have recorded a major 50% drop in illegal migrants entering the US across the southern border.

Speaking on a talk show, Secretary Mayorkas stated, “over the past two days, the United States border patrol has experienced a 50pc drop in the number of encounters, versus what we were experiencing earlier in the week”.

However, he emphasized that it is still too early to predict the future rate of crossings.

Due to public health concerns, Title 42  rules allowed the United States to promptly expulse a number of migrants. 

On Thursday, however, the government revoked the designation of Covid-19 as an official public health emergency, leading to an end of this authority. As a result, the country has returned to Title 8 immigration law. 

US border crossings will result in strict penalties for those who do not qualify, including five-year entry bans and potential criminal charges as the Biden administration works to establish a system.

When Title 42 came to an end, the Biden administration originally sent troops to the border in anticipation of a possible spike in border crossings. 

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However, Secretary Mayorkas disclosed that contrary to the former number of 10,000 per day, only about 6,300 persons crossed on Friday, and 4,200 did so on Saturday.

While Republican Representative Mark Green, the head of the House of Representatives homeland security committee, contradicted the statistics, asserting that this past week saw the most number of crossings ever.

Many immigrants are looking for legal methods to enter the United States, like Gustavo Rodriguez, who left Venezuela after deserting the military. 

Rodriguez emphasized his wish to enter the country legitimately and brought up the difficulties that asylum seekers face when trying to schedule interviews using smartphone applications like CBP One or processing facilities in countries like Guatemala and Colombia.

Although the Biden administration promised to raise the number of daily appointment slots to 1,000, migrants describe the process as a lottery, with limited availability and intense competition.

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