Monthly Apprehensions at U.S.-Mexico Border Doubled to 40,000 Since Last Year

Swelling numbers of Mexicans are heading north across the border, propelled by a deep economic crash and drawn by promises of a stimulus-fueled resurgence in the U.S.

Since the middle of last year, the number of monthly apprehensions at the southern border of working-age Mexicans traveling without children has more than doubled to around 40,000, from fewer than 16,000 during the prior two years, in part because of repeat attempts, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. If the rate keeps up, 2021 could see the most Mexican apprehensions in a decade.

The increase has been largely ignored as the Biden administration struggles with a wave of unaccompanied children and families from Central America seeking asylum after the end of the Trump administration. The influx increases the challenge for President Joe Biden, who is searching for a solution to a decades-old political puzzle, and accentuates the economic crisis faced by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, whose government has done little to cushion the blow of Covid-19.

Apprehensions of Mexicans at the U.S. border declined steeply from the late 1990s and early 2000s, but began to climb back in 2018. Then the coronavirus crisis hit Mexico, crippling the economy. Meanwhile, the U.S. passed Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief plan, and a new generation of Mexican residents began weighing the painful decision to leave home and family behind.

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