While migration is down since Biden's asylum restrictions, homicides at the border are rising

Authorities in Chihuahua, a state on Mexico's border with the United States, reported a 33% increase in homicides in the state capital and a 7% increase in Ciudad Juárez, coinciding with the decline in migration since Joe Biden's executive action authorizing U.S. immigration officials to deport large numbers of migrants without processing their asylum claims.

According to La Opinión, officials attribute this to criminal groups competing over the now-scarce migrants, as explained in a conference by authorities.

The city of Chihuahua experienced the most significant surge, while June was the second deadliest month of the year in Juárez, with 106 homicides, second only to January, which saw 125.

State Public Security Secretary Gilberto Loya Chávez explained the numbers in depths:

"In the municipality of Chihuahua, unfortunately, 52 people lost their lives in June due to intentional homicides. Compared to May, this is a 33% increase, with 39 cases in May. Ciudad Juárez saw an increase from 99 homicides in May to 106 in June."

These figures come after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security reported a more than 40% decrease in migrant arrests at the southern border following the June 5 executive order to restrict asylum and expedite deportations.

In fact, the month of June had the lowest amount of illegal crossings along the U.S. southern border in more than three years. U.S. Border Patrol reported that approximately 84,000 migrants crossed the border, the lowest monthly level since Biden took office in January 2021, when the agencies reported just over 75,000 migrant encounters.

La Opinión reported that last Friday, a police operation found six dead and two injured by gunfire in a community near kilometer 37 on the highway from Chihuahua to Juárez. Some of the victims were Central Americans, marking the third massacre related to human trafficking in Chihuahua in the last three months.

Additionally, over the weekend, the National Institute of Migration (INM) and the Federal Preventive Police detained 65 migrants who were crammed into a dump truck in temperatures exceeding 43 degrees Celsius while attempting to pass an army checkpoint.