Border Patrol chief warns illegal immigration drop is temporary.

Border Patrol Chief Predicts Return to High Levels of Illegal Immigration

The recent drop in illegal immigrant arrests at the U.S.-Mexico border since Title 42 ended would be short-lived, according to a GOP lawmaker.

During a House committee hearing on Capitol Hill, Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS) revealed that Chief Raul Ortiz of the Border Patrol had disclosed in a briefing weeks earlier that the sharp decline in border apprehensions would soon return to historically high levels seen since President Joe Biden took office.

The Fragile Equilibrium on the Border

Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Border and Immigration Policy Blas Nunez-Neto testified that the Biden administration was “encouraged” by the drop in illegal entries recently but “clear-eyed” that the reasons people were migrating across the Western Hemisphere had not changed. “This is a fragile equilibrium that we have on the border, and it could be upset in the future for sure,” Nunez-Neto said.

A senior U.S. Customs and Border Protection official agreed with Ortiz. “There [are] still [immigrants] there in Mexico. I believe they’ve taken kind of a wait-and-see approach to see how this pans out,” said Benjamine “Carry” Huffman, CBP’s acting deputy commissioner.

What Lies Ahead in Congress

Rep. Lou Correa (D-CA) added that he did not believe “this chapter” on the border was over. Stay tuned for more updates on the ongoing immigration debate in Congress.

• Will illegal immigration arrests at the border continue to drop?
• What will be the Biden administration’s next move?
• How will Congress address the ongoing immigration crisis?

These are just a few of the questions that remain unanswered as the debate over immigration policy continues to unfold.

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