DHS to reopen border crossings, says illegal migration dropping

Homeland Security says it’s seen a major drop in illegal immigration at the southern border in recent days and the administration will reopen several legal crossings that had been shuttered in order to shift personnel needed to handle last month’s record-breaking surge.

The closures had been devastating for cross-border commercial traffic and had been a headache for some travelers, serving as the latest grim yardstick for President Biden’s management of the border.

Administration officials announced the openings in a call with reporters a day before congressional Republicans are slated to tour the border and talk to the press, highlighting the continued chaos.

One official said there were 2,500 encounters with illegal immigrants along the border on New Year’s Day, which is down from the more than 10,000 daily figure regularly reached in the weeks ahead of Christmas.

The administration said there’s usually a lull at the holidays, but also said Mexico has stepped up its efforts to derail some of the traffic headed to the U.S., which is taking pressure off the border. The officials said that’s partly the outcome of high-level talks last week.

“We have seen some increased enforcement in Mexico and a decrease in our encounters in recent days,” one official said.

He said the four border crossings to reopen on Thursday are one vehicle bridge in Eagle Pass, Texas; a pedestrian bridge in San Ysidro, California; one entry gate in Nogales, Arizona; and the entire port of entry in Lukeville, Arizona.

The closures had left plenty of people fuming, from locals whose regular routines were disrupted to farm-state lawmakers who said their economies were being slammed.

The officers who usually man those entry points had been shifted to help Border Patrol agents process the unprecedented number of illegal immigrants streaming through. An extraordinary number of non-Border Patrol personnel has had to be deployed to assist agents.