Developments
From the first to the fourth week of March, the number of migrants whom Border Patrol apprehended in its busiest border sector—Tucson, Arizona—dropped by 5,000 or 41 percent, according to regular Twitter updates from the sector chief. Tucson agents apprehended 12,200 migrants during the week of March 1-7; that number has declined during each subsequent week, reaching 7,200 during March 22-28. The reason for the sharp drop is unclear.
- “John R. Modlin @USBPChiefTCA on Twitter” (Twitter, March 29, 2024).
At the end of the first quarter of 2024, the number of people who have migrated through Panama’s Darién Gap stands at 109,069, up from 87,390 during the same period in 2023. The month-to-month trend is flat, though: 36,001 people in January, 37,165 in February, and 35,903 in March. Of this year’s migrants, 69,568 (64 percent) have been citizens of Venezuela, a proportion similar to 2023.
- “Mas del 60 % de los 109.000 Migrantes Que Atravesaron el Darien en 2024 Son Venezolanos” (EFE, Efecto Cocuyo (Venezuela), March 31, 2024).
U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee, who oversees the Flores settlement agreement governing the treatment of children in CBP custody, presided over a March 29 hearing about Border Patrol’s practice of requiring asylum seekers to wait outdoors for long periods at the borderline in order to turn themselves in. Children are among those subsisting in makeshift encampments in Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector. Government attorneys argued that migrants at the camps are technically not in U.S. custody and don’t require care.
- Elliot Spagat, “Judge Questions Border Patrol Stand That It’s Not Required to Care for Children at Migrant Camps” (Associated Press, Associated Press, March 29, 2024).
Eight people from China died off the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico after the boat in which they were migrating capsized.
- Marlon Sorto, Omar Fajardo, Yong Xiong, “Eight Chinese Migrants Found Dead on Mexico Beach After Boat Capsizes” (CNN, April 1, 2024).
- Ramon Bragana, “Cuerpos Hallados en Costas de Oaxaca Son de Migrantes Chinos, Confirman Autoridades” (Milenio (Mexico), March 30, 2024).
A CBP release documented the death of a Guatemalan woman, who fell from the border wall after pleading for help on the evening of March 21 east of San Diego.
- “Woman Dies After Fall From International Border Fence Near Otay Mesa Port of Entry” (U.S. Customs and Border Protection, March 29, 2024).
An AP-NORC poll found majorities of U.S. respondents favoring the hiring of more Border Patrol agents and more immigration judges. Only 42 percent supported building a border wall. 58 percent ranked immigration “as an extremely or very important issue to them personally.”
- “Most Favor Hiring More Border Patrol Agents and Immigration Judges” (AP-NORC, March 29, 2024).
42 percent of people in Ecuador surveyed by Cedatos declared an intention to migrate; of that number, 55 percent named the United States as their desired destination.
- “Mas de la Mitad de los Ecuatorianos Con Deseo de Migrar Buscan Llegar a Estados Unidos, Segun Encuesta de Cedatos” (El Universo (Guayaquil Ecuador), March 30, 2024).
The number of people whom Texas’s state government has placed on buses to Democratic-governed cities now stands at 108,600 since April 2022, a small fraction of the population released from CBP custody during that period. Over two-thirds of the buses have gone to New York and Chicago. Texas also claims that its law enforcement forces have arrested 41,200 migrants “with more than 36,700 felony charges,” usually for trespassing.
- “Texas Surges Soldiers, Resources to Boost Border Security in el Paso” (Texas Governor’s Office, March 29, 2024).
An El Paso magistrate judge released some of the migrants caught on video on March 21 pushing past Texas national guardsmen in order to turn themselves in to Border Patrol agents at the border wall.
- Maura Zurick, “Texas Judge Allows Release of Migrants Arrested After Border Stampede” (Newsweek, March 31, 2024).
On the U.S. bank of the Rio Grande, separated from El Paso by Texas state authorities’ concertina wire, migrants bearing flags of several nations staged a “stations of the cross” ceremony on Good Friday.
- Jesus Estrada, Mireya Cuellar, “Escenifican Viacrucis para Pedir Asilo a Eu” (La Jornada (Mexico), March 30, 2024).
Analyses and Feature Stories
Many asylum seekers with disabilities cannot access the CBP One smartphone app to make appointments at U.S.-Mexico border ports of entry, according to a complaint that the Texas Civil Rights Project and Civil Rights Education and Enforcement Center filed last week.
- Neelam Bohra, “Migrants With Disabilities Struggle to Access the U.S. Asylum System, Advocates Say” (The Texas Tribune, March 29, 2024).
CNN profiled volunteers doing humanitarian work along Arizona’s border with Mexico. This has involved using private vehicles to transport people in distress to Border Patrol custody, which is technically a federal crime.
- Rosa Flores, Sara Weisfeldt, “Volunteer Defends Helping Vulnerable Migrants on Arizona’s Perilous Southern Border” (CNN, March 30, 2024).
Together with a working group of legal experts and advocates, the International Refugee Assistance Project developed a document laying out a legal action agenda for individuals displaced by the effects of climate change.
- “Legal Action Agenda for Climate Displacement” (International Refugee Assistance Project, March 29, 2024).
Of the 545,043 people documented as migrating through Honduras in 2023, 47 percent were women, girls, and boys, reported the UN Refugee Agency. Of 1,381 interviewed by UNHCR and partners last year, 45 percent said they were “in need of international protection as they were forced to leave their country of origin due to violence and persecution.”
- “Honduras – Mixed Movements Protection Monitoring – Year 2023” (UN Refugee Agency, March 29, 2024).
On the Right
- Phillip Linderman, “Immigration to the U.S. Strengthens Communism in Cuba” (The American Conservative, March 30, 2024).
- Khaleda Rahman, “Migrants to Blame for Border Wall Injuries, Americans Say” (Newsweek, March 30, 2024).