Homeland Security claimed success at the southern border Wednesday, saying the Border Patrol has seen a 40% drop in its arrests since President Biden announced tougher asylum rules earlier this month.
Agents are now averaging about 2,400 arrests a day, which is still high but the standards of the two previous administrations but is far from the 10,000 a day that agents saw late last year.
“As a result of the decisive executive actions to secure our border that President Biden announced on June 4, unlawful border encounters have plunged by more than 40% over the last three weeks,” White House spokesperson Andrew Bates said in a memo touting the latest numbers.
The success comes just months before the election, but also is likely to raise questions about why Mr. Biden waited so long.
The president’s policy stiffens the standards for claiming asylum, clamping down on the loophole migrants were using to earn a quick catch-and-release from the Biden administration. With less chance of gaining a foothold here, migrants are not going to be as willing to shell out the smuggling payments required to make the trip, authorities argue.
The Washington Times reported this week that prices for smuggling have become more erratic in the weeks since the asylum policy change.
SEE ALSO: Migrants paying record-high $50,000 to $100,000 to be smuggled into U.S.
Some migrants are paying less than usual — in some cases, just a few thousand dollars. But others are paying more, including a few that have told agents they are being charged between $50,000 and $100,000 to be smuggled in.
Republicans say Mr. Biden’s asylum change was too little and too late. They also said that his subsequent move to declare a deportation amnesty and a program to issue green cards to illegal immigrants married to U.S. citizens is both illegal and likely to spur a new wave of illegal immigration.
Meanwhile, from the other end, Mr. Biden faces a lawsuit from immigrant rights groups over the asylum policy.
Mr. Biden’s border shutdown has some built-in loopholes.
Unaccompanied children are exempt. And migrants who pre-schedule their arrivals, even though they lack a legal visa to enter, can still earn a catch-and-release under Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ power of “parole.”
Roughly 2,450 slots a day are open to pre-scheduled migrants, including about 1,000 for those from certain countries who fly directly into the interior and 1,450 slots available at the southern border.
Polling shows immigration has been one of Mr. Biden’s weaknesses as he prepares to face voters.
The White House and Homeland Security argued Wednesday that it is former President Donald Trump who should be blamed for the border chaos.
They argue he scuttled a Senate bill that would have tightened asylum rules and deployed more manpower to the border.
That bill failed to win a majority in the Democrat-led Senate, much less the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster. It was also declared dead in the House by the Republicans who control that chamber.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.