Arrests at US-Mexico border soar by 40 percent in June after Trump shut closed the border and suspended asylum and immigration procedures amid coronavirus

  • CBP said arrests at the Mexico-U.S. border increased for a second straight month
  • CBP arrested 32,512 migrants in June compared to 23,142 in May and 16,969 in April 
  • The rise in arrests comes three months after Trump closed the southern border and suspended regular immigration procedures, including asylum claims

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced a 40 percent spike in arrests of undocumented immigrants in June - two months after Donald Trump postponed regular immigration proceedings and ordered the quick removal of migrants due to the coronavirus pandemic.

CBP data released Friday showed that 32,512 migrants were arrested in June compared to 23,142 in May and 16,969 in April.

The rise in arrests comes three months after Trump closed the southern border and suspended regular immigration procedures, including asylum claims, and ordered that migrants should deported within a matter of hours. The order took aim at immigrants who had entered the country illegally and bypassed health screening procedures.  

Instead of holding the migrants in a populated area for processing, CBP has been expelling them to 'their country of last transit,' in this case Mexico.

Since then, the CBP expelled 19,909 migrants of the migrants it arrested in May and 14,870 undocumented immigrants who were apprehended in April.

The border enforcement federal agency immediately removed 27,504 individuals who illegally entered the United States in June. 

Border patrol agents in Texas help three undocumented immigrants, including a pregnant woman, on June 21 after they were abandoned by human smugglers. A CBP report released Friday showed that June apprehension of migrants  for unlawfully crossing the United States-Mexico border went up by 40 percent compared to April stats

Border patrol agents in Texas help three undocumented immigrants, including a pregnant woman, on June 21 after they were abandoned by human smugglers. A CBP report released Friday showed that June apprehension of migrants  for unlawfully crossing the United States-Mexico border went up by 40 percent compared to April stats 

Border Patrol in Arizona arrested two teenage U.S. citizens for ferrying 23 undocumented immigrants across the United States-Mexico border last Wednesday. The migrants - 22 Mexican citizens and a Guatemalan national - were returned to Mexico

Border Patrol in Arizona arrested two teenage U.S. citizens for ferrying 23 undocumented immigrants across the United States-Mexico border last Wednesday. The migrants - 22 Mexican citizens and a Guatemalan national - were returned to Mexico

A CBP agent extends a water safety line to two Mexican nationals who were swept by a fast current in a canal in El Paso, Texas, on June 12

A CBP agent extends a water safety line to two Mexican nationals who were swept by a fast current in a canal in El Paso, Texas, on June 12

The CBP report was released before Trump told Telemundo in an interview  Friday that was already working on an executive order for a 'road to citizenship' for the children who were brought unlawfully to the United States and are protected under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals [DACA] program, which shields thousands of immigrants from deportation. 

'We're working out the legal complexities right now, but I'm going to be signing a very major immigration bill as an executive order, which Supreme Court now, because of the DACA decision, has given me the power to do that,' Trump said.

'It's going to be a very big bill, a very good bill, and merit-based bill and it will include DACA, and I think people are going to be very happy,' the president added.

Hours after Trump spoke, the White House put out a statement that seemed to walk back his remarks on creating a path to citizenship for DACA beneficiaries.

'As the President announced today, he is working on an executive order to establish a merit-based immigration system to further protect US workers,' White House spokesman Judd Deere said.

'Furthermore, the President has long said he is willing to work with Congress on a negotiated legislative solution to DACA, one that could include citizenship, along with strong border security and permanent merit-based reforms,' he added.

'Unfortunately, Democrats have continually refused these offers as they are opposed to anything other than totally open borders,' Deere added.