US Sees Decline In Illegal Border Crossings By Cubans, Nicaraguans, Haitian And Venezuelans

President Joe Biden will sign a series of executive orders aimed at reforming the US immigration process, signalling a return to a more inclusive policy. Photo by: AFP/Mandel Ngan

Authorities in the United States announced on Thursday that illegal border crossings for the past month have decreased significantly after U.S. President Joe Biden's announcement of new immigration policies for refugees seeking asylum in the country.

Illegal border crossings from Cubans, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans, and Haitians have decreased over 97% in the past week, with only 115 refugees being stopped at the border this month in comparison to the average of 3,367 stoppings just last month, according to the Associated Press.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has credited President Biden's new immigration policies for the decrease, which includes the continuation of the controversial Title 42 measure, a deal with Mexico that accepts many of those who were expelled, and a new policy that allows 30,000 migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to enter the country.

"These expanded border enforcement measures are working," Mayorkas said. "It is incomprehensible that some states who stand to benefit from these highly effective enforcement measures are seeking to block them and cause more irregular migration at our southern border."

Refugees entering the U.S.' borders have been a problem as many border towns are at overcapacity, with Arizona's Yuma receiving more than 6,000 migrants every day. Many of these towns do not have the infrastructure to support the waves of migrants entering the cities, the New York Post reported.

Some conservative politicians have been critical of Biden's new policy of accepting 30,000 migrants into the country, claiming it would "make this immigration crisis drastically worse" by allowing more refugees into the country despite the safeguards put in place which includes the migrants needing an American sponsor to qualify.

Despite objections from different politicians in the country, Mexico's Foreign Relations department has praised Biden's new policies as a way of "reducing risks" between the migrants and the countries they are attempting to enter.

"The measures announced by the United States have begun delivering important results with the twin objectives of opening avenues to regular migration and also considerably reducing risks associated with irregular migration flows," Foreign Relations' director of North American affairs Roberto Velasco said.