Rep. Mike Levin Applauds Six Consecutive Weeks of Zero Migrant Street Releases
President Biden’s Executive Actions Make Progress on Border Security & Prevent Costly Street Releases
Oceanside, CA— Rep. Mike Levin (CA-49) today announced that the U.S. Border Patrol San Diego Sector had six consecutive weeks of zero migrant street releases. There have been zero street releases for the weeks ending on July 5, July 12, July 19, July 26, August 2, and August 9. President Biden’s June 2024 slate of executive actions are making progress on border security and preventing street releases that cost thousands of dollars and constrain the resources of local law enforcement and non-governmental organizations.
“I applaud this progress and the impact of the President’s executive actions strengthening border security. The actions are working and migrant street releases have dropped to zero for the last six weeks,” said Rep. Levin. “Although this is a positive step forward, there is much more work to do to ensure our immigration system is efficient and effective. Executive actions are not permanent. Congress must work together to pass a bipartisan border security and immigration bill.”
“Unfortunately, the bipartisan Senate border security bill negotiated earlier this year, the toughest border bill in years, was killed by former President Trump and his Congressional allies,” continued Rep. Levin. “They opposed the legislation in order to score political points and play politics with border security. It’s dangerous. Border security deserves the collective action of all Members of Congress on a nonpartisan basis. We need bipartisan comprehensive border security and immigration reform legislation that gives Border Patrol the resources it needs, adds more immigration judges to the bench, hires more agents, and provides legal pathways for immigration and citizenship. I am ready to get this done and will continue to work with my colleagues to make progress on legislation.”
In July, Rep. Levin visited the Otay Mesa soft-sided migrant processing facility in San Diego County to examine first-hand how President Biden’s executive actions are affecting the situation at the border. During the visit, Rep. Levin received an assessment from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and U.S. Border Patrol leadership on the impact of the executive actions. Key takeaways include:
- Migrant encounters in San Diego dropped by 42% in July, compared to the previous month.
- Earlier this spring, U.S. Border Patrol in the San Diego Sector was apprehending about 1,200 people daily – now, that number has dropped to about 480 per day.
Success has been driven by increased consequences for crossing illegally, improved cooperation with the Mexican government, and support from local non-governmental organizations. The reduction in numbers at Otay Mesa has fostered a positive ripple effect and enabled Border Patrol to resume operations at the San Clemente and Murietta checkpoints. As such, Border Patrol agents have increased targeted enforcement of vehicles suspected of smuggling drugs and other contraband. Rep. Levin also learned that more staff, increased salaries, and improved incentives are needed to match what is paid to colleagues doing similar jobs in other sectors. Bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform and border security legislation is necessary.
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