April 11, 2024

Developments

An Axios “scoop” adds detail to the Biden administration’s consideration of a possible executive order to limit migrants’ access to asylum at the U.S.-Mexico border. The legal justification for blocking asylum—presumably when daily migrant encounters exceed a certain number—could be Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, a vaguely worded authority that allows the President to block certain classes of migrants whose entry is considered “detrimental to the interests of the United States.”

Donald Trump employed 212(f) during his presidency, but courts determined that the authority does not allow refusing asylum to people who are already on U.S. soil and asking for protection in the United States.

Hans Nichols, Mike Allen, Stef W. Kight, “Scoop: Biden Plans Order to Limit Southern Border Crossings by End of Month” (Axios, April 10, 2024).

At a congressional hearing yesterday, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas remarked that while the administration is constantly evaluating it, “executive action, which is inevitably challenged in the courts, is no substitute for the enduring solution of legislation.”

“Ellen M. Gilmer @Ellengilmer on Twitter” (Twitter, April 10, 2024).

Mayorkas testified separately yesterday before appropriations subcommittees of the Republican-majority House of Representatives and the Democratic-majority Senate. He called for budget increases for DHS, including a Biden administration proposal for a $4.7 billion “Southwest Border Contingency Fund,” which would allow the Department to spend money as it sees fit to respond to surges. Republicans—who in the House will soon send Mayorkas’s impeachment to the Senate—refuse to give the Secretary that kind of flexibility.

Republicans in both houses criticized Mayorkas’s handling of the border and migration. In answer to questioning in the House, the Secretary acknowledged that he would use the word “crisis” to describe the border situation. That has been part of Mayorkas’s border commentary since February, but it was the first time he used the term under oath.

The Secretary repeated calls to pass legislation like the Senate “border deal” that failed in February, which would have increased DHS resources while adding a new authority to refuse asylum when daily migrant encounters exceed a threshold of 4,000 or 5,000 migrants.

Luke Barr, Quinn Owen, Sarah Beth Hensley, “Mayorkas Takes Heat From Gop in Hearings on Dhs Budget, Border” (ABC News, April 10, 2024).
Andrea Castillo, “Impeached Homeland Security Secretary Navigates Working With Republicans Who Want Him Out” (The Los Angeles Times, April 10, 2024).
Anna Giaritelli, “Mayorkas Admits to Congress That Border Is in ‘Crisis’” (The Washington Examiner, April 10, 2024).
David Lerman, Paul M. Krawzak, “Mayorkas Soldiers on Through Budget Hearings, Despite Impeachment” (Roll Call, April 10, 2024).
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Connecticut), “Murphy Chairs Dhs Budget Hearing With Secretary Mayorkas | U.S. Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut” (U.S. Senate, April 10, 2024).

Border-wide, migration continues to drop, sinking below the levels of January-March, which were among the lowest of the Biden administration. Camilo Montoya-Gálvez of CBS News tweeted that Border Patrol apprehended about 4,000 migrants on April 8; the daily average for the first quarter of the 2024 calendar year was just over 4,400.

“Camilo Montoya-Galvez @Camiloreports on Twitter” (Twitter, April 10, 2024).

The chief of Border Patrol’s San Diego, California Sector reported apprehending 6,997 migrants during the week of April 3-9. That is similar to the sector’s weekly apprehensions in March—but it is greater than the number of apprehensions reported by the chief of the Tucson, Arizona Sector during March 29-April 4 (6,600). Tucson has been the number-one sector for migrant arrivals since July 2023, but numbers have been dropping. While one week’s data is not enough to go by, it is possible that San Diego may be supplanting Tucson as the number-one sector.

“Chief Patrol Agent Patricia D. McGurk-Daniel @USBPChiefSDC on Twitter” (Twitter, April 10, 2024).
“John R. Modlin @USBPChiefTCA on Twitter” (Twitter, April 5, 2024).

iNewSource reported that the San Diego Sector is receiving a much greater number of unaccompanied minors than before.

Sofia Mejias-Pascoe, “Via San Diego, More Kids Cross the U.S.-Mexico Border Alone” (inewsource, April 10, 2024).

Guatemala’s migration agency reported that the United States has returned 21,294 of its citizens on 179 deportation flights so far this year. Aerial deportations to Guatemala are on pace this year to match or exceed levels reported before the pandemic-era Title 42 policy. Title 42 reduced aerial deportations because it allowed U.S. authorities to expel most Guatemalans directly into Mexico.

“Estados Unidos Retorna a un Grupo de 136 Guatemaltecos” (Instituto Guatemalteco de Migracion, April 10, 2024).

Mexican national guardsmen and immigration agents detained 700 migrants who arrived aboard a freight train in Torreón, Coahuila on April 8. “At least 55, including women and children, reported that the agents detained them for several hours, beat them, and stole money, cell phones, and documents before releasing them,” reported La Jornada.

Jesus Estrada, “Operativo de Guardia e Inm en Chihuahua para Frenar a 700 Extranjeros” (La Jornada (Mexico), April 10, 2024).

42 percent of Latino adults surveyed support building a wall or fence along the entire U.S.-Mexico border, according to a new Axios-Ipsos Latino Poll. That is up 12 points from a December 2021 poll. 38 percent said they support deporting all undocumented immigrants. Support for wall-building was 15-20 points higher among people of Cuban descent than among people of Mexican or Central American descent.

Russell Contreras, “Exclusive Poll: Latino Support for Border Wall, Deportations Jumps” (Axios, April 11, 2024).

Iowa passed a law that, echoing Texas’s S.B. 4 law currently facing federal court challenges, would make it a misdemeanor for an undocumented person to enter the state if they had been deported or denied entry to the United States.

Mitch Smith, “Joining Texas, Iowa Enacts Law for State Immigration Enforcement” (The New York Times, April 10, 2024).

Officials from Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) announced the launch of a new fentanyl interdiction operation, which they are calling “Operation Plaza Spike.” Data from the first five months of fiscal year 2024 show CBP’s fentanyl seizures down 27 percent compared to the first five months of fiscal year 2023.

The operation is beginning in Nogales; CBP’s Tucson field office, which includes the Nogales port of entry, currently seizes the most fentanyl of all 13 U.S.-Mexico border CBP field offices and Border Patrol sectors. One new tactic would be “releasing the name of the plazas’ senior ranking cartel officials, the ‘plaza bosses,’ to increase public and law enforcement pressure on them.”

“Cbp Announces Next Phase in Fight Targeting Criminals Funneling Fentanyl Into American Communities” (U.S. Customs and Border Protection, April 10, 2024).
“Operation Plaza Spike Press Conference” (DVIDS (U.S. Department of Defense), April 10, 2024).

Analyses and Feature Stories

Spain’s El País reported about Haitian migrants who are starting new lives in Mexico City after applying for asylum in Mexico’s system. More than 70,000 Haitians (including children born in Brazil or Chile) have applied for Mexican asylum since 2022.

Diego Gomez Pickering, “Work and Peace: A Growing Number of Haitians, Dreaming of a Better Future, Make Their Home in Mexico City” (El Pais (Spain), April 10, 2024).

A visual report from the Financial Times illustrated the Darién Gap’s transformation from an impenetrable jungle barrier straddling Colombia and Panama, to an organized crime-dominated route used by over 520,000 migrants in 2023.

Irene de la Torre Arenas, Lucy Rodgers, Michael Stott, “The Migrant Highway That Could Sway the Us Election” (Financial Times (UK), April 10, 2024).

The New York Times published a report from an outdoor encampment along the border near Campo, California, where asylum seekers wait for hours or days to turn themselves in to Border Patrol. The camp, in a very remote area of the border, formed this year after Mexico placed National Guard personnel at more accessible breaks in the border wall near Jacumba Springs, California. The article features 22-year-old volunteer Peter Fink, who is coordinating humanitarian relief efforts there.