House Republicans introduce a border bill alongside a foreign aid plan

House Speaker Mike Johnson is moving forward with foreign aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, and is also moving a stand-alone border security bill along with the aid. The border security bill is similar to the Secure the Border Act of 2023 (H.R.2) which had been passed in the House in May 2023, but was not voted on in the Senate. The bill is an enforcement-only approach that would severely limit the right to seek asylum in the U.S., limit other existing legal pathways, and make other significant changes to U.S. immigration.

March saw an unusual decline in encounters between ports of entry at the U.S. border

The U.S. Border Patrol encountered 137,840 people who crossed illegally into the U.S. in the month of March, a 2.3% decrease in number from February and the first time since 2017 that numbers in March fell from the month before. U.S. officials have attributed the decline to an increase in enforcement by the Mexican government. “Encounters at our southern border are lower right now, but we remain prepared for changes, continually managing operations to respond to ever-shifting transnational criminal activities and migration patterns,” said Troy Miller, acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.