Immigration reform: Border officials say an unexpected drop in immigrants arriving at the US-Mexico border after Title 42 expires

Houston, Texas (KTRK) – It’s been nearly two months since the end of Title 42, the Trump-era immigration policy that allowed the United States to quickly turn away immigrants at the border during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Experts expected a large influx of asylum seekers when the ban ends on May 11. Instead, border officials saw the number of crossings drop by 70% in the first month. So, what happened here?

Read more: What is Title 42? How will it affect the Texas-Mexico border?

The new policy could be one of the hurdles for asylum seekers making their way from South America. Houston immigration attorney Kimberly Bruno explains how applicants must now prove their denial of asylum in each country they have traveled through before they can be considered in the United States.

“This is very difficult for a lot of people because before Title 42 you could cross five different countries, get to the United States, and claim asylum,” Bruno said.

Dr. Sergio Lira of the Greater Houston Council told LULAC ABC13 in May that another reason could be due to cartels, which can charge about $12,000 per person with the disingenuous promise of delivery to the US.

“They separate families. For example, some children and mothers can go. But fathers stay here until you pay us. Otherwise, there will be serious consequences.” So they keep things up. And they wouldn’t risk a family member or a loved one in order to come here,” Lira said.

RELATED: Officials say the US doesn’t see an expected increase in immigrants a week after the end of Title 42

Bruno adds that the drop may be due to a new app created by the US government called CBP oneIt aims to help asylum seekers secure an appointment before they are allowed entry at the border.

According to the US Department of Homeland Security, CBP One saw 1,070 non-citizens presented “in a safe and orderly manner at the port of entry each day to be processed within the scheduled appointment time.” As of June 1, CBP has increased the number of appointments available to 1,250 per day.

Bruno said some immigrants have expressed frustration with the app’s problems.

“A lot of clients and potential people have told me that the app is buggy, it’s closing, and they can’t sign in again,” she said.

Experts and advocates said that it is very difficult to predict if the trend will continue in this direction or if we may see a rally at some point because there are many factors here. For now, they’ll just wait and see what happens in the next couple of months.

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