California‘s formerly overrun border with Mexico is now virtually empty just months after Donald Trump‘s election, images show.
Aid workers have begun packing up after weeks without seeing any migrants, SF Gate reports.
‘To say there has been a dramatic change would be an understatement,’ Jeffrey Stalnaker, acting chief patrol agent of the San Diego sector, said.
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The number of migrants caught crossing illegally stayed well above 200,000-a-month for much of Biden’s time in office. He insisted there was nothing he could do.
But during Trump’s first month in office the number of illegal migrants intercepted plunged to just 11,709 people, making a mockery of Biden’s claims that his hands were tied.
Former President Biden’s decision to reverse a pandemic-era policy which denied asylum seekers and immediately deported them back to Mexico was largely blame for the spike.
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Among them was deploying 750 US troops to reinforce six miles of the border wall with concertina wire.
Adriana Jasso, a human rights lawyer who works for the American Friends Service Committee, said the last time she saw any migrants in the notorious ‘Whiskey 8’ area near San Diego was February 15.
Previously Whiskey 8 has been chocked full of migrants who had scaled the fence out of Mexico and were waiting along the stretch for processing by CBP.
Jasso and her colleagues are used to handing out water, food and aid to the migrants but said there is less call for their services these days.
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But lately, water bottles he puts out for migrants has gone untouched.
Recently, his son travelled out to Highway 80 to gather up unused tents.
Stalnaker told SF Gate the addition of concertina wire has drastically reduced the number of illegal entries, which has seen arrests plummet by 70 percent so far this fiscal year compared to last.
He added that federal prosecutors in San Diego are dealing with more than 1,000 border-related criminal cases so far this fiscal year.
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Almost immediately upon assuming office, Trump canceled appointments for those who were in Tijuana awaiting meetings with Customs and Border Protection and also removed a phone app which scheduled them.
Illegal border crossings at the southern border fell to the lowest levels since 2000 last month.
But experts warned that without legal ways to claim asylum, migrants are more likely to place themselves at increased risk to enter the US.
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The two men and a woman were found by CBP agents after they put out a distress call.
* Original Article:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14555837/amp/Stark-photos-Trumps-stunning-success-issue-fueled-election-victory.html?ito=smartnews