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Migrant crossings continue to plunge, nearing the level that would lift Biden’s border crackdown
The number of migrants unlawfully crossing the U.S. southern border has continued to drop markedly in July, nearing a threshold that would require officials to lift a partial ban on asylum claims enacted by President Biden, according to internal government data obtained by CBS News.
July is on track to see the fifth consecutive monthly drop in migrant apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border and the lowest level in illegal immigration there since the fall of 2020, during the Trump administration, the internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) figures show.
In early June, President Biden invoked a far-reaching presidential authority to suspend the entry of most migrants entering the U.S. illegally, effectively shutting off access to the American asylum system outside of official ports of entry.
Illegal border crossings — which were already falling before Mr. Biden’s action — plunged further after the order took effect, reaching a three-year low in June.
But the DHS regulation implementing Mr. Biden’s proclamation stipulated that the asylum crackdown would be lifted if the 7-day average of daily migrant apprehensions between ports of entry fell to 1,500.
In the past week, the average of daily illegal crossings counted in the regulation’s calculations reached roughly 1,650, according to the internal DHS figures. Those calculations, as dictated by the regulation, exclude crossings by unaccompanied children who are not from Mexico. Those children are typically housed in government-run shelters until they turn 18 or are placed with a U.S.-based sponsor, as mandated by a 2008 anti-trafficking law.
If the 7-day average of daily illegal crossings dips to 1,500, the regulation says, Mr. Biden’s asylum proclamation would be “discontinued 14 days after” Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas makes a “factual determination” about the threshold being reached.
“The Departments have determined that the 1,500-encounter threshold is a reasonable proxy for when the border security and immigration system is no longer over capacity and the measures adopted in this rule are not necessary to deal with such circumstances,” the regulation says.
Asylum limits could remain in place
While illegal border crossings are nearing the 1,500 deactivation threshold, it’s possible that they may remain above that number, keeping the partial asylum ban in place. And even if the 1,500 trigger is reached, Mr. Biden’s proclamation would be reinstated if the 7-day average of daily illegal crossings were to rebound to 2,500.
A senior U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official said the agency does not expect the partial ban on asylum requests to be deactivated imminently, noting that illegal crossings appear to be plateauing.
“We’re not in a place yet where we’re a day … or days away from being below 1,500,” the official told CBS News.
But the official acknowledged that reaching the 1,500 trigger is possible and confirmed there’s been internal planning and preparations for that eventuality.
If Mr. Biden’s proclamation is suspended, the official said, CBP would still strive to place migrants in expedited deportation proceedings, instead of releasing them with notices to appear in immigration court. Another Biden administration asylum restriction that applies to those who don’t seek refuge in third countries before crossing into the U.S. would also remain in place.
A dramatic change at the border
With an overall average of roughly 1,800 daily migrant apprehensions so far in July, Border Patrol is on pace to record fewer than 60,000 migrant apprehensions this month, the lowest level since September 2020, according to unpublished DHS data. That average, unlike the one used in the asylum regulation’s calculations, includes all unaccompanied children.
The current situation at the southern border represents a dramatic change from just late last year, when illegal crossings rose to a quarter of a million in December, an all-time monthly high. After that record-breaking influx, the Mexican government, at the request of U.S. officials, ramped up operations to stop migrants from reaching American soil.
Immigration experts credited the Mexican government’s migration crackdown with playing a key role in the sustained drop in migrant crossings recorded by American officials this year. Temperatures in the southern U.S. have also soared in the summer, making the migration journey even more perilous.
But U.S. officials said Mr. Biden’s move to partially shut down asylum processing has led to a more acute drop in unlawful crossings. Because it makes it easier for U.S. officials to deport more migrants, the proclamation has sharply reduced the releases that authorities view as a factor that encourages migration.
Still, not everyone is being deported quickly. Some groups, such as unaccompanied children, medically vulnerable migrants and those who secure appointments to be processed at legal entry points, are exempt from the partial asylum ban. Some migrants who are disqualified from asylum under the policy are also still allowed to stay because the U.S. does not carry out regular deportations to their home countries due to diplomatic and logistical constraints.
Progressive advocacy groups have strongly decried Mr. Biden’s asylum crackdown, and the American Civil Liberties Union is arguing in federal court that the policy violates U.S. and international refugee law.
Theresa Cardinal Brown, a senior adviser at the Bipartisan Policy Center and a former government immigration official under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, said the legality of Mr. Biden’s actions are “still an outstanding question.” But she said the drop in releases under the policy is affecting migrants’ decisions, at least in the short-term.
“When a sufficient number, it doesn’t necessarily have to be everybody, but a sufficient number of people are not allowed to come in, to wait and succeed in coming in, that does send a signal back,” she said.
Chipotle Mexican Grill job applicants better get used to conversing with AI — their first interview could be with an artificial intellgence-powered system named “Ava Cado” rather than a human hiring manager.
The fast-casual Mexican restaurant chain said Tuesday that it is partnering with Paradox, a maker of what the technology company calls “conversational” AI, to launch the new hiring platform.
By collecting basic information about candidates, Ava will free up restaurant managers to focus on other tasks, according to the company. The AI can also schedule interviews and even make job offers in real time, the company said. Ava is also a polyglot and able to conduct interviews in English, Spanish, French and German.
The new technology is expected to reduce the amount of time it takes Chipotle to hire an employee for an in-restaurant position by as much 75%, Chipotle said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch.
Chipotle plans to deploy the system across more than 3,500 restaurant locations in North America and Europe. The technology is currently being introduced at restaurants in a phased approach that’s expected to be complete by the end of October.
In addition to collecting biographical information, Ava can engage with job applicants and answer their questions about the company, according to Chipotle.
“Paradox operates as if we’ve hired additional administrative support for all our restaurants, freeing up more time for managers to support team members and provide an exceptional guest experience. We’re excited about the early improvements we’re seeing,” Chipotle chief human resources officer Ilene Eskenazi said in a statement.
A number of other major restaurant chains, retailers and other companies have turned to Paradox’s AI hiring tech, including Applebee’s, McDonald’s, Panera Bread, Taco Bell and Wendy’s.
Although AI can expedite the hiring process, it can also be controversial as a recruiting tool. Some studies have found that it can lead to biased assessment of candidates and unintentionally discriminate against people based on their race or gender.
To guard against the misuse of AI in hiring, New York City in 2021 passed a law that requires companies that use the technology to disclose its use to job candidates. Employers are also required to conduct annual third-party “bias audits” of their automated hiring systems to ensure the technology isn’t discriminating against certain types of candidates.
The North Carolina county that is home to Asheville overcounted deaths caused by Helene by as many as 30, according to a statement Tuesday from its sheriff’s office and data from the state, significantly reducing the death toll from the historic storm.
Buncombe County officials, who previously reported 72 deaths, are now deferring to a state tally of 42 deaths for the county.
The county’s number dates back to an Oct. 3 news release in which county officials reported that “72 lives have been lost due to Hurricane Helene,” repeating a number cited by Sheriff Quentin Miller at an earlier media briefing. But state officials, relying on reviews by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Raleigh, have consistently reported a number lower than that for the county. The number for Buncombe County included in the state’s tally has stood at 42 since at least Oct. 10.
On Tuesday, the Buncombe County Sheriff’s office acknowledged in a statement that the number of deaths in the county was lower than the number it provided.
“In the early aftermath of Hurricane Helene, all deaths were being classified as storm related and from Buncombe County. However, as the days progressed, BCSO was able to identify who had passed away due to the hurricane, who was in fact from Buncombe County, and who passed away from other causes,” Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Christina Esmay told CBS News in a statement Tuesday. “Compounded with the lack of consistent communication, due to widespread outages, the Buncombe County fatality number that was initially provided to Sheriff Miller has decreased.”
The sheriff’s office did not provide additional information.
The Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Raleigh typically reviews weather deaths and makes a ruling on cause before reporting numbers through state officials, a process it has used in past storms for years. But in the chaos following Helene, a number of counties reported fatality numbers independently of the state. The state’s tally has gradually increased through Tuesday, but the climb has slowed as bodies have been examined.
A spokesperson from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services told CBS News that Buncombe County is “relying on the state to report storm-related deaths.” Hannah Jones, the spokesperson, said the state’s count of storm-related fatalities stands at 96, with 42 of these deaths were in Buncombe County.
“We do not have information about how Buncombe County was determining fatality numbers for the death totals they were reporting for their county. We understand that Buncombe County decided to stop their independent reporting a couple weeks ago and are relying on the state to report storm-related deaths,” Jones said.
Another county, Henderson, had previously reported two more deaths than the state, but said on Tuesday that it agrees with the state’s tally of 7 deaths.
Using the new North Carolina figures, CBS News has now confirmed through Tuesday at least 215 total deaths across multiple states due to Helene.
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