November sees another dip in apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border

The number of apprehensions made by the U.S. Border Patrol dropped again last month, the lowest monthly number during the Biden administration.

Preliminary numbers reported by the AP show Border Patrol agents made 46,700 arrests in November. It marks a more than 80% decrease from a spike in arrests border-wide last December — including as many as 19,000 a week in the Tucson Sector.

Adam Isacson, director of defense oversight with the Washington Office on Latin America, says the number of border crossings was expected to rise before President-elect Trump takes office.

“We certainly saw that dynamic in late 2016, early 2017 when Trump was last elected. So far, we’re not seeing a rush to the border, at least not yet,” he said.

Isacson says Biden administration asylum restrictions and a months-long migration crackdown by Mexican authorities has kept more migrants away from the U.S. border.

But many migrants are stuck in Mexico.

“A number well into the tens of thousands, perhaps over 100 thousand, are inside Mexico, in addition to Mexican citizens who might be wanting to go, one would think that people are starting to panic and want to go, but we’re not really seeing it yet,” he said.

The Biden administration’s restriction, introduced in June, bars migrants from seeking asylum when they’re apprehended between ports of entry — forcing those looking for protection to wait for months in Mexico for asylum appointments through the CBP One app.

A lawsuit filed by rights groups earlier this year argues that restriction goes against U.S. statute outlining the right to seek asylum anywhere on U.S. soil.