90 percent of people apprehended at border expelled under new coronavirus order

Almost all undocumented immigrants apprehended at the southwest border in April were immediately expelled to Mexico as part of the Trump administration’s increased immigration controls amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Numbers released by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) show that 90 percent of all apprehensions were treated as Title 42 cases — subject to immediate expulsion per a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention order.

In total, 15,862 people were apprehended at the southwest border in April; 14,416 were processed as Title 42 cases, while only 1,446 were processed as Title 8 — individuals who violated immigration law by entering the country between ports of entry.

The increase in Title 42 cases essentially represents a flip from March, when only 21 percent of apprehensions were processed according to the emergency. In March, 30,002 people were apprehended crossing the border without authorization, 23,558 of whom were processed based on immigration law and only 6,444 returned to Mexico per the sanitary order.

The Hill reported Monday that Title 8 apprehensions had fallen to a historical low of 1,420 as of April 29, based on preliminary CBP numbers.

The Title 42 numbers released Thursday show a significant drop in crossings in April, but also suggest authorities are more often using the order to quickly process individuals.

The numbers also show that family units and unaccompanied minors are, for the most part, not attempting to cross the border during the pandemic.

Apprehensions of unaccompanied children at the southwest border dropped 75 percent, to 734 in April from 2,938 in March, while apprehensions of people traveling with their families dropped 82 percent, to 604 in April from 3,369 in March.

Apprehensions of single adults fell nearly 39 percent, to 14,524 in April from 23,695 in March.