WASHINGTON — The Department of Homeland Security recorded a precipitous drop in encounters with migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally this month, the department said, putting January on track to see the lowest level of monthly border encounters since the beginning of the Biden administration.
The drop comes after migrant arrivals reached record levels for Joe Biden’s presidency in December.
A Mexican National Guard soldier stands guard Jan. 7 on the south side of the border as Texas National Guard troops place posts to extend a secondary fence at the U.S.-Mexico border, as viewed from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
In a statement, DHS officials on Wednesday credited its policy announced earlier this month that introduced a new parole program for Haitians, Cubans and Nicaraguans, offering potential migrants a new legal pathway to the United States while cracking down on illegal entries.
The program had been available to Venezuelans for several months, and led to a steep drop in Venezuelan arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border.
Preliminary DHS numbers from January show that encounters of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans crossing unlawfully at the southwest border “declined 97% compared to December,” the agency said. “Encounters with individuals from these countries dropped from a 7-day average of 3,367 per day on December 11, to a seven-day average of just 115 on January 24.”
The agency said that the decline in encounters from those populations “occurred even as encounters of other noncitizens are returning to customary levels after a typical seasonal decline over the holidays.”
Texas, Florida and 18 other states are suing DHS and the immigration agencies it oversees, saying the federal government is abusing its power and that the initiative went beyond the limits of when the agency could use the parole process.
“These expanded border enforcement measures are working,” Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said. “It is incomprehensible that some states who stand to benefit from these highly effective enforcement measures are seeking to block them and cause more irregular migration at our southern border.”
Mayorkas hinted at the reduction in numbers at the U.S. Conference of Mayors last week, telling the audience that encounters from “the targeted countries” had “dropped significantly” since the program was announced. In a tweet, he also warned Cuban and Haitian migrants who took to sea would not be eligible for the parole process.
Photos: Biden visits the border for the first time
President Joe Biden talks with U.S. Border Patrol agents as they walk along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
President Joe Biden walks with U.S. Border Patrol agents along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
President Joe Biden walks with U.S. Border Patrol agents along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
El Paso police officers pat down and arrest two Venezuelan migrants at the camping site outside the Sacred Heart Church in downtown El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. President Joe Biden arrived in Texas on Sunday for his first trip to the U.S.-Mexico border since taking office, stopping in El Paso after two years of hounding by Republicans who have hammered him as soft on border security while the number of migrants crossing spirals. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
El Paso police officers search the belongings of a Venezuelan migrant at the camping site outside the Sacred Heart Church in downtown El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. President Joe Biden is heading to the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday, his first trip there as president after two years of hounding by Republicans who have hammered him as soft on border security while the number of migrants crossing spirals. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
Venezuelan migrant Jose Castillo looks skywards while praying at the camping site outside the Sacred Heart Church in downtown El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. President Joe Biden arrived in Texas on Sunday for his first trip to the U.S.-Mexico border since taking office, stopping in El Paso after two years of hounding by Republicans who have hammered him as soft on border security while the number of migrants crossing spirals. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
Venezuelan migrants pray at the camping site outside the Sacred Heart Church in downtown El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. President Joe Biden arrived in Texas on Sunday for his first trip to the U.S.-Mexico border since taking office, stopping in El Paso after two years of hounding by Republicans who have hammered him as soft on border security while the number of migrants crossing spirals. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
A migrant child holds her dog while camping outside the Sacred Heart Church in downtown El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. President Joe Biden arrived in Texas on Sunday for his first trip to the U.S.-Mexico border since taking office, stopping in El Paso after two years of hounding by Republicans who have hammered him as soft on border security while the number of migrants crossing spirals. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
Two migrant kids play with donated toys while camping outside the Sacred Heart Church in downtown El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. President Joe Biden arrived in Texas on Sunday for his first trip to the U.S.-Mexico border since taking office, stopping in El Paso after two years of hounding by Republicans who have hammered him as soft on border security while the number of migrants crossing spirals. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
A large "Welcome to Mexico" sign hung over the Bridge of the Americas is visible as President Joe Biden talks with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers as he tours the El Paso port of entry, a busy port of entry along the U.S.-Mexico border, in El Paso Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Venezuelan migrant Karla Sainz, 26, who's eight months pregnant, help her son Joshua, 2, to get dressed while camping outside the Sacred Heart Church in downtown El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. President Joe Biden arrived in Texas on Sunday for his first trip to the U.S.-Mexico border since taking office, stopping in El Paso after two years of hounding by Republicans who have hammered him as soft on border security while the number of migrants crossing spirals. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
Venezuelan migrant Noengris Garcia, left, sits with her dog Kiara, while listening to a fellow migrant at their encampment outside the Sacred Heart Church in downtown El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. President Joe Biden arrived in Texas on Sunday for his first trip to the U.S.-Mexico border since taking office, stopping in El Paso after two years of hounding by Republicans who have hammered him as soft on border security while the number of migrants crossing spirals. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
President Joe Biden talks with U.S. Border Patrol agents as they stand along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
President Joe Biden talks with Oscar Leeser, Mayor of the City of El Paso, Texas, as they stand near a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
President Joe Biden talks with U.S. Border Patrol agents as they stand near a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
President Joe Biden gestures before boarding Air Force One at El Paso International Airport in El Paso, Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023, to travel to Mexico City, Mexico. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
President Joe Biden talks with Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, second from left, as they walk along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is at right. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
President Joe Biden talks with Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, left, as they walk along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
FILE - President Joe Biden walks with U.S. Border Patrol agents along a stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. A new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows some support for changing the number of immigrants and asylum-seekers allowed into the country. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults say the level of immigration and asylum-seekers should be lowered, while about 2 in 10 say they should be higher, according to the poll. About a third want the numbers to remain the same. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
