There were more than 200,000 Customs and Border Protection (CPB) encounters with migrants at the southern border in May as officials saw record daily highs before the end of Title 42 – followed by a sharp decrease once the public health order ended.
There were 204,561 encounters at the southern border in May. That’s down from the 241,136 encountered in May 2022 and higher than the 180,597 encountered in May 2021. It’s also down from the 211,159 seen in April.
May saw some of the busiest days at the border ahead of the end of the Title 42 public health order on May 11. The order had allowed for the rapid expulsion of migrants at the southern border since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its looming end brought fears of a new migrant wave at the border — even amid an already historic crisis.
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Since May 11, numbers dropped sharply, with officials touting a 70% drop in encounters to above 3,000 a day. So far those numbers have appeared to have remained at around that level.
In its operational update, CBP said that half of all the encounters in May occurred between May 1-11. Almost two–thirds (65%) of all encounters were single adults, while there were 9,943 encounters of unaccompanied children.
The Biden administration has been linking the sharp drop in encounters with the implementation of its policies and planning for a post-Title 42 border.
However, the asylum rule which forms the core of that planning faces multiple lawsuits from both Republicans and left-wing civil rights groups. Republicans have claimed the rule is a “smoke screen” to mask the numbers being admitted, while the American Civil Liberties Union says it limits migrants’ right to claim asylum.