July border encounters dropped to lowest level in four years

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) said Friday that migrant encounters along the southwest border last month dipped to the lowest level in four years.

“In July, the Border Patrol recorded 56,408 encounters between ports of entry along the southwest border,” CBP said in a press release. “This is the lowest monthly total since September 2020.”

The Friday press release follows executive action back in June taken by President Biden to turn away migrants going over the southern border illegally during periods of large numbers of encounters. 

Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said in the release that last month “our border security measures enhanced our ability to deliver consequences for illegal entry – leading to the lowest number of encounters along the southwest border in more than three years.

“We are working closely with international partners to go after transnational criminal organizations that traffic in chaos and prioritize profit over human lives, and this month announced enhanced enforcement efforts to attack the fentanyl supply chain,” Miller continued. “These efforts are seeing results, as CBP saw the largest fentanyl seizure in our agency’s history just a few weeks ago. We remain vigilant in these efforts alongside our partners.”

Friday’s press release also follows months of strife over the southern border, with a bipartisan bill on border security being voted down twice in the Senate within the last year.

Former President Trump called the border bill “a Death Wish for The Republican Party” back in February.

“Only a fool, or a Radical Left Democrat, would vote for this horrendous Border Bill, which only gives Shutdown Authority after 5000 Encounters a day, when we already have the right to CLOSE THE BORDER NOW, which must be done,” the former president said on Truth Social about the legislation.