In the month leading up to Sunday’s Mexican presidential election, migrant apprehensions along the U.S. southwestern border dropped to less than 118,000. This represents the third lowest month since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021.
U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended just under 118,000 migrants who illegally crossed the southwest border between ports of entry in May, according to an unofficial Border Patrol report obtained by Breitbart Texas. The May apprehensions report marks the lowest number of migrant apprehensions since June of last year and the third-lowest number since President Biden’s first full month in office in February 2021.
The lower numbers follow months of increased immigration enforcement efforts in Mexico following secret presidential-election-year negotiations between the Biden administration and the Mexican government.
Breitbart Texas reached out in February to members of Congress and the office of House Speaker Mike Johnson for information about an agreement between Mexico and the United States to reduce migrant crossings. One congressman replied that it was unclear if the Biden administration would ever disclose an agreement of this nature. There still do not appear to be any reports disclosing what the U.S. may have agreed to in return for Mexico’s increased enforcement efforts.
Immigration issues may have been an issue for the more than 12 million residents in the United States currently eligible to vote by mail in Mexico’s presidential election held over the weekend. AMLO’s government encouraged those expatriates living in the United States to exercise their right to vote through messaging campaigns conducted by Consular offices across the southwest border.
On Sunday, Mexico elected the first woman president of a North American country. Unofficial reports indicate MORENA Party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum will win the election with more than 58 percent of the vote. She will also be the first Jewish person to lead the predominately Catholic nation of Mexico.
Opposition coalition candidate Xóchitl Gálvez garnered between 26.6 and 28.6 percent of the vote, while Jorge Álvarez Máynez took third with 9.9 to 10.8 percent of the vote.
The immigration efforts in Mexico leading up to Sunday’s presidential election and increased enforcement efforts in Texas continued to push migrant crossings to the west. The Tucson and San Diego Sectors accounted for nearly 66,000 of the 118,000 migrant apprehensions in May.
According to the unofficial report, the five Texas-based sectors accounted for only 45,000 apprehensions in May.
May marks the third consecutive month of migrant apprehension declines. From a short peak in February of nearly 141,000 migrant arrests, the number fell in March to just over 134,000 and in April to nearly 129,000.
According to a report by Newsmax, the Biden administration is expected to roll out new election-year border enforcement efforts. The announcement’s timing comes on the tail of the Mexican presidential election and shortly before the first U.S. presidential election debate.
After months of saying he could not take executive action to fix the border crisis he created by executive action, President Biden is expected to announce new executive orders to “significantly limit the ability of migrants to claim asylum at the southern border,” Newsmax claimed, citing a statement from a Florida immigration law firm.
The desperate actions by the Biden administration also follow the conviction last week of a leading presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump. A CBS poll released on Sunday reveals the convictions had little, if any, impact on voters’ views of the candidates.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He also serves as president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products.
