US border migrant crossings surge despite Title 42 remaining

Despite a federal judge’s ruling last week that kept the Title 42 health order in place at the southern border, illegal crossings into Texas and Arizona from Mexico surged over the weekend, according to a new report. 

Federal data obtained by the Washington Examiner revealed that apprehensions made by Border Patrol officials in Yuma, Ariz. spiked from 1,000 per day in April to 1,285 in a 24-hour-period that ended Saturday morning. 

Over the course of Saturday, roughly 1,300 people were apprehended in Yuma, with nearly 1,500 taken in on Sunday.

Yuma County Supervisor Jonathan Lines confirmed the border encounter numbers to The Post on Tuesday, saying his county has seen a “more diverse crowd” of migrants “than ever before.”

While the Monday encounter numbers were not available at the time of writing, Lines revealed that a large number of the migrants crossing the border over the previous 48 hours were from Belarus, Russia, China, Nepal, Uzbekistan and the Republic of Georgia.

“Most have decided to come in the last few weeks,” Lines said, adding that the migrants he encountered were aware Title 42 remained in place.

During the same Friday morning to Saturday morning time period, Eagle Pass, Texas saw 1,831 migrants apprehended – a massive hike from the 1,361 average in April. 

In El Paso, Texas officials apprehended 1,296 people over the same time frame – up from the 995 daily average.

Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to The Post’s inquiries on the border crossing data.  

Some migrants looking to cross the Rio Grande into Eagle Pass reportedly told journalists they believed Title 42 had been lifted and they would not be immediately expelled from the US, while several others remain frustrated the order is still in place. 

The Biden Administration was seeking to end the health authority on May 23, but its effort was blocked last week by Louisiana US District Judge Robert Summerhays. 

In his Friday order, the federal judge said lifting the order would result in “demonstrated harm” and that “despite the impact of the order on the states, they were not able to protect their interest by participating in the notice-and-comment process mandated by the [Administrative Procedure Act.]”

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Title 42 has allowed border officials to immediately expel migrants without hearing asylum claims. Nearly 2 million migrants have been removed under the policy. 

Border officials were anticipating a huge spike in attempted border crossings if the order had been lifted, with Homeland Security Secretary Alejendro Mayorkas warning that as many as 18,000 migrants could cross the border daily. 

It is unclear if the surge will be curbed at all by the order staying in place, however the historic number of border crossings in April could indicate a continued rise. 

Last month, CBP reported a record high of 234,088 repeat and unique migrant encounters along the southern border. Only 97,000 were removed under Title 42, while more than 110,000 were released into the US.