U.S. expels 6,300 migrants, coronavirus used to justify expulsions, border crossers drop — Mission Accomplished?

Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News reports that the Trump administration announced last this week that it expelled more than 6,300 migrants along the U.S. southern border in March under a public health directive that has allowed officials to override immigration and asylum laws to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Under a March 21 order issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. border officials have moved to rapidly process migrants encountered along both land borders.  Acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Mark Morgan said that more than 80% of migrants now appearing U.S./Mexico border are being removed from the United States in hours. Those expelled under the public health order include 5,614 adults, 393 members of families and 299 unaccompanied migrant children.

In the last three weeks, border crossings have decreased by 50% and CBP is currently holding about 100 migrants — a 97% drop. Since the implementation of the CDC order, officials have been encountering about 4,200 migrants per week, a sharp drop from the weekly average of 10,000 before the directive was issued.

KJ