My guess is that your comment may be on to something. But that aspect aside ....
... The number of migrants illegally crossing the U.S. southern border plummeted in February to the lowest level seen in decades, according to internal data obtained by Axios.
The big picture: Crossings had been trending down for several months, driven by policies on either side of the U.S.-Mexico border, experts say. But the numbers have plunged since Trump began implementing -- and broadcasting -- his sweeping immigration crackdown. ...
Context: Illegal border crossings spiked at the end of 2023 but started to slope downward in 2024 after the Biden administration implemented new restrictions and Mexican officials ramped up enforcement.
- - - Mexico's actions were a "really key" reason for the downward trend "that often goes a bit under the radar," said Putzel-Kavanaugh.
- - - Former President Biden in June signed an executive order that took aggressive action to curtail border surges by implementing asylum restrictions in periods where border encounters were high.
- - - That triggered a "huge dip" in the number of migrants arriving irregularly between ports of entry, Putzel-Kavanaugh said.
The Trump administration's long-promised crackdown started on day one of his term. It sent shockwaves throughout the immigration system.
- - - Officials shut down an app that facilitated the legal entry of some migrants at the border, used military aircraft for deportations and loudly publicized a plan for mass deportations.
- - - The CBP One mobile application going dark left thousands stranded in Mexico, with their appointments for asylum screenings canceled.
- - - "The calculus was really starting to shift [prior to the app being shut down] where people were waiting in Mexico to get those appointments and be able to be processed that way, because there would still be access to humanitarian protection," Putzel-Kavanaugh said.
Zoom in: Migrants are likely in a "wait-and-see" moment today, Putzel-Kavanaugh said, as they make sense of how to navigate "many different layered policies" that make it "really hard to know if there's really access to humanitarian protection." ...
