CBS News is misleading the public by claiming that President Biden’s partial suspension of asylum processing significantly reduced the number of migrants entering the U.S. The network points to official government statistics, but these figures don’t tell the whole story.
In early June, President Biden cited record levels of illegal border crossings to justify disqualifying most migrants from seeking U.S. asylum. This executive order, according to CBS, has made it easier for immigration officials to deport those entering the country illegally. However, the narrative suggesting this action effectively reduced the number of migrants is misleading.
WATCH: A woman on a migrant caravan headed for the U.S. southern border says she doesn’t want Trump to win because “he is the one who wants nothing to do with the migrants.”
Put this in an ad. pic.twitter.com/TNIxOyJFzu
— Kingsley Wilson (@KingsleyCortes) July 26, 2024
While there has been a reported decrease in unauthorized border crossings, other factors might be at play. For instance, CBS reports that only 56,400 migrants illegally crossed the southern border in July.
This figure is cited as the lowest in nearly four years. However, this drop may be influenced by seasonal changes, like rising temperatures, and enforcement by Mexican officials, not just U.S. policy.
US Border Patrol just reported the highest number of recorded illegal immigrants in history at over 260,000 this month.
The full number, including unrecorded, may be over half a million per month, which is the population of Wyoming. https://t.co/KHekAFBBMI
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 30, 2023
CBS News’s portrayal oversimplifies complex border dynamics. It misleads the public into believing that the administration’s policies have been more effective than they might be.
Report: Illegal border crossings surpass 12.5 million since Biden-Harris took office, most in US history
–https://t.co/wy7ZfIqfLo— DailyJobCuts . com – Layoffs / Job / Economy News (@dailyjobcuts) August 18, 2024
One main change has been a steep decline in the number of migrants being released by Border Patrol, a practice that U.S. officials have perceived as a “pull factor” for migration, as those who are released can usually stay in the U.S. for years, regardless of the validity of their asylum claims, because the immigration courts face a backlog of millions of cases.
In July, Border Patrol released 12,000 migrants with notices to appear in immigration court, down from 28,000 in June and 62,000 in May, before Mr. Biden’s asylum changes, according to Customs and Border Protection data. In December 2023, during a record-breaking spike in migration, Border Patrol released 192,000 migrants with court notices.
The sharp decrease in releases has coincided with a significant jump in the percentage of migrants placed in “expedited removal” proceedings. Those proceedings allow officials to quickly deport recent border crossers who don’t claim asylum or who fail asylum interviews.
Moreover, CBS News fails to mention the broader context of the immigration issue. According to Gallup, 28% of Americans currently name immigration as the most important problem facing the country, nearly tying the 27% recorded in July 2019—the highest in Gallup’s trend since it began in 1981. This concern comes amid record numbers of border crossings, with over 300,000 migrants crossing the southern border in December alone.
The recent bipartisan negotiations on immigration reform, sparked by these unprecedented numbers, underscore the ongoing crisis that continues to stress social services in U.S. cities.
NYC Set to Invest $10 Billion in Supporting Illegal Immigrants Over 3 Years
READ: https://t.co/Uq3oHO8Vp6 pic.twitter.com/oyMv548xFP
— The Gateway Pundit (@gatewaypundit) August 18, 2024
