Immigrant apprehensions hit a annual low in May, according to the latest monthly data from the Border Patrol. The number of encounters for the month was 241,022. The last time there was a lower figure was in June 2023, with 211,457 encounters in that month.

In total, there have been 2,222,770 encounters so far this year. This is half a million less than in 2021 (2,766,852), just four months before the end of the fiscal year. May 2024 also saw the lowest number of encounters in that month since 2021.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) boasts about these figures and points out in its report that the reductions in arrests are accentuated two weeks after the White House issued its new prerogatives for asylum seekers. The Border Patrol recorded more than 117,900 encounters along the southwest border. In May, encounters along the southwest border were 9% lower than in April 2024. Adult male encounters in May were down 11% compared to April.

The DHS emphasizes that this is an achievement by the Biden administration and points out that its preliminary reports indicate that in these last two weeks, with asylum reform, Border Patrol encounters have fallen by at least 25%. These numbers are preliminary.

According to Border Patrol data, encounters decreased significantly in June in each of the previous two years .

On the other hand, it has been one year since the expiration of Title 42, the COVID-era measure that allowed authorities to carry out immediate deportation of immigrants.

During this same fiscal year between May 2023 and May 2024, the number of deportations carried out by the Border Patrol reached a record since 2010. In the aforementioned period, 775,000 individuals were deported, according to data provided by authorities. The Department of Homeland Security specified that the majority of these deportations happened on the southwestern border.