U.S. authorities have seen a ninety seven percent decline in illegal border crossings by migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela since Mexico began accepting those expelled under a pandemic-era order, the Biden administration said Wednesday, the Associated Press reports. The announcement came one day after Texas and 19 other Republican-led states sued to stop widescale humanitarian "parole" for citizens of those four countries who apply online, fly to the U. S. and find a financial sponsor. The administration said Jan. 5 that it would admit up to 30,000 people a month from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela for two years with authorization to work. At the same time, Mexico agreed to take back the same number from those countries who enter the U.S. illegally and are expelled under Title 42, which denies them rights to seek asylum, with the stated goal of preventing the spread of COVID-19. Border crossings by migrants from those four nations had risen sharply, with no easy way to quickly return them to their home countries.
“These expanded border enforcement measures are working,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. “It is incomprehensible that some states who stand to benefit from these highly effective enforcement measures are seeking to block them and cause more irregular migration at our southern border.” U.S. authorities stopped migrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela an average of 115 times a day along the Mexican border during a seven-day period that ended Tuesday, down from a daily average of 3,367 during the week that ended Dec. 11. The Texas-led lawsuit seeks to stop large-scale humanitarian parole for those four countries, which may total 360,000 people a year. It has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Drew Tipton in Corpus Christi, an appointee of President Trump who has ruled against President Biden on deportation priorities.