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Oct. 22 (UPI) -- U.S. border officials dealt more than 77,000 migrants arriving from Venezuela, Cuba or Nicaragua last month, representing a 245% increase from a year earlier, new immigration figures showed. Migrants from those three countries eclipsed the total number of people seeking to enter the United States from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador in 2022 for the first time, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's monthly operational update released Friday.
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The numbers show a demographic shift among migrants seeking asylum from countries in Central and South America.
Border officials encountered Cuban migrants 220,908 times, with 187,716 encounters with Venezuelans and 163,876 with Nicaraguans in the 2022 fiscal year. That total of 572,500 surpassed the 541,618 total cases involving migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were processed over the same time period.
The overall number of migrant encounters along the southern border totaled almost 2.4 million in fiscal year 2022.
Historically, a majority of migrants seeking to cross the Mexican border into the United States have come from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, collectively known as Central America's Northern Triangle.
Two weeks ago, in an effort to alleviate congestion at the U.S. southern border, the Biden administration announced plans to permit entry to tens of thousands of eligible asylum seekers fleeing the economic and humanitarian crisis of Venezuela.
"While failing regimes in Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua continued to drive a new wave of migration across the western Hemisphere, the number of Venezuelans arriving at the southern border decreased sharply nearly every day since we launched additional joint actions with Mexico to reduce irregular migration and create a more fair, orderly and safe process for people fleeing the humanitarian and economic crisis in their country," CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus said in the report.
"Over the past week, the number of Venezuelans attempting to enter the country fell more than 80 percent compared to the week prior to the launch of the joint enforcement actions. While this early data is not reflected in the latest report, it confirms what we've said all along: when there is a lawful and orderly way to enter the country, individuals will be less likely to put their lives in the hands of smugglers and try to cross the border unlawfully."
A large number of border official encounters during the past fiscal year involved migrants entering the United States illegally multiple times after being expelled to Mexico.
Federal authorities say they have been handcuffed in their ability to manage the crisis because the authoritarian regimes in Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua have limited or rejected deportations of their citizens from the United States.
Mexican officials generally refuse to accept the return of migrants who are not from Mexico or the Northern Triangle.
"CBP and DHS will continue to work with our partners in the region to address the root causes of migration, expand legal pathways, facilitate removals, and take thousands of smugglers off the streets," Magnus said. "No matter what smugglers say, those who do not have a legal basis to remain in the country will be removed and people should not make the dangerous journey."
