SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Volunteers report that Whiskey 8, a migrant gathering spot between San Diego and Tijuana, has been quiet in recent weeks.
And the Iris Avenue Transit Center, a few miles to the north, where migrants had been getting dropped off by the busload after being processed, is devoid of activity.
One vendor in the area said he couldn’t remember the “last time he saw migrants getting dropped off at the trolley station.”
A little over a month ago, President Biden signed an executive order making it more challenging for migrants to seek asylum in the United States.
According to the president’s mandate, when unlawful crossings exceed an average of 2,500 for seven consecutive days, most people apprehended after that by Border Patrol agents won’t be allowed to seek asylum and face deportation immediately after being stopped.
Whether the threat of expulsion is working, the number of migrants unlawfully crossing the border in the San Diego Sector is down in recent weeks.
On the south side of the border, Enrique Lucero, director of the Migrant Affairs Office in Tijuana, said the number of people arriving in the city intending to cross the border has “gone down drastically.”
“We went from 8,303 unlawful crossings per week to 3,696,” said Lucero.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection have confirmed the numbers.
Agents who patrol the area between Tijuana and San Diego tell Border Report they have also noticed a decrease.
They also say many agents who were working at a giant tent-processing center for migrants in Otay Mesa are returning to their jobs of patrolling the border.
Agents who drive the buses and shuttle migrants also return to their regular duties.
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