Migrant encounters at the southern border are ticking upward again after plunging earlier this summer — a shift that will intensify scrutiny of the Biden administration’s latest immigration policies.
The US Border Patrol logged more than 132,000 encounters between ports of entry at the border with Mexico in July, up from about 100,000 the month before. They remain 27% lower than last July.
The numbers mark the end of a downward trend that started when the Department of Homeland Security launched a combination of carrot-and-stick measures to deter unauthorized border crossings and offer legal pathways when pandemic-era restrictions ended ...