Arrivals\nat America\u2019s southern border are rising, despite the continued ban on\n\u201cnon-essential\u201d travel. At the rate northbound traffic is increasing, crossings\nwill soon be back to pre-COVID-19 levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An interactive government database<\/a> shows pedestrian and vehicular arrivals at the five busiest ports of entry rose to 3,359,795 in May, up 38 percent over April. San Ysidro, Calif., the nation\u2019s largest land port, registered a 27 percent increase while smaller checkpoints posted larger spikes. Del Rio, Texas, was up 94 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n President Donald Trump\u2019s March 20 order<\/a> restricting border crossings to non-essential travel has been extended through Aug. 21<\/a> in an effort to curb the spread of coronavirus. But, for whatever reason, U.S.-bound traffic is building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ncrowded port at San Ysidro, just south of San Diego, illustrates what U.S.\nCustoms and Border Protection agents are up against. In May, 1,019,554 people\nin cars and 295,421 pedestrians arrived there \u2013 all of them supposedly engaged\nin “essential travel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJust how the officers at San Ysidro can appropriately make more than 1.3 million favorable decisions on the admission of these border crossers is hard to imagine,\u201d noted David North<\/a> of the Center for Immigration Studies. \u201cIf that number were spread evenly over the days, it would be more than 1,750 an hour, for each and every hour of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nmost cases, arrivals are U.S. citizens or green card holders, many of whom\ncross multiple times per month. But as numbers increase, the composition will likely\ninclude more foreign nationals. Ascertaining health status and reasons for\ntravel becomes more complex and time-consuming amid a rising tide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Interestingly,\ncommercial traffic at many of the ports has been flat or even declined. This\nraises more questions about the purportedly \u201cessential\u201d purposes of increased\nnon-commercial crossings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nJune and July statistics will tell us more definitively what road we are on.#<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Arrivals at America\u2019s southern border are rising, despite the continued ban on \u201cnon-essential\u201d travel. At the rate northbound traffic is increasing, crossings will soon be back to pre-COVID-19 levels. An interactive government database shows pedestrian and vehicular arrivals at the five busiest ports of entry rose to 3,359,795 in May, up 38 percent over April.<\/p>\n