Recent reports from the United States Border Patrol reveal a new trend among migrants headed to the United States hoping to cross the U.S./Mexico border. The migrants, according to recent reports, have become discouraged by Trump’s mass deportation operations and are choosing to turn back, abandoning their attempt to reach the United States altogether.
According to the Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, Michael W. Banks, the agency received verified reports confirming several groups of migrants have been encountered by foreign law enforcement agencies headed south rather than north toward the United States. The new trend, according to authorities in Honduras, shows the migrants are now abandoning their attempts to reach the United States. According to Banks, nearly 50 migrants headed to the U.S. have been encountered in Honduras headed south, away from the U.S./Mexico border.
On February 3, Honduran officials reported a group of 26 Venezuelan and Cuban migrants was traveling south, headed for Nicaragua. Two days later, authorities in Honduras encountered 23 migrants re-entering Honduras from Guatemala after turning back from Mexico. The latter group comprised migrants from Honduras, Venezuela, Panama, and El Salvador.
The impact of increased immigration enforcement operations in almost all parts of the United States and along the southwest border has caused migrant encounters to drop 96 percent from last year, according to weekly data reported by the Texas Department of Public Safety.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, a series of daily migrant apprehension recaps showed that the Texas Border Patrol Sectors arrested 1,461 migrants over a seven-day period that ended Sunday. According to the recaps posted by Texas DPS Spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez, the El Paso Sector led all five Texas border sectors with 612 migrant apprehensions.
The average daily migrant arrest total for Texas-based border sectors for the week ending Sunday was slightly above 200, compared to more than 1,900 per day in February 2024.
The reduction in illegal entries along the southwest border is also impacting non-government migrant shelters, which are not receiving migrants released by the Border Patrol. The Trump administration has significantly reduced the use of self-recognizance releases by the Border Patrol. As a result of the termination of “Catch and Release” and the resulting federal funding associated with wide-scale migrant releases, several non-government migrant shelters in Texas and Arizona have ceased operations.
The latest private non-government migrant shelter to close is in San Antonio, Texas, just a few miles from the San Antonio International Airport. The Migrant Resource Center (MRC) has partnered with the City of San Antonio and Catholic Charities since 2022.
In late January, just days after President Trump’s inauguration, two shelters closed in Pima County, Arizona. County Officials announced the closures in Tucson after the Border Patrol discontinued migrant releases immediately following the inauguration of the 47th President.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
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