Stephanie Leutert

With this vote, Congress makes ICE the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency in history, with more money per year at its disposal over the next four years than the budgets of the FBI, DEA, ATF, US Marshals, and Bureau of Prisons combined.

The May 2025 @strausscenter.bsky.social Asylum Processing report with @sleutert.bsky.social is out.

This is the 7th major enforcement and asylum policy change at the U.S. southern border since 2018 and the second phase where asylum processing has been almost exclusively closed at the border.

Biggest drop in waiting migrant population appears to be in Reynosa, where the security situation continues to be deeply challenging.

Slightly late, but the May 2025 asylum processing report is now out! Overall, CBP is not processing asylum seekers at the border and the total number of migrants waiting in MX border cities continues to drop (we estimate less than 6,000 people border-wide).

www.strausscenter.org/publications...

The latest Strauss Center Asylum Processing report is out. @sleutert.bsky.social and I chronicle:

1) The cessation of asylum along the US southern border since Jan. 20
2) The effect these recent policy changes are having on asylum seekers in border cities

www.strausscenter.org/publications...

Asylum Processing at the U.S.-Mexico Border: February 2025 - The Strauss Center This February 2025 asylum processing update focuses on current U.S. asylum policies at ports of entry and migrants’ experiences in Mexican border cities. As of January 20, 2025, there is no longer any...

Thanks to everyone who contributed insights to
@yatescait.bsky.social and me! Read the full report here:

www.strausscenter.org/publications...

As of mid-February 2025, this report estimated that approximately 13,000 individuals remained in Mexican border cities.

These individuals were concentrated in Reynosa, Ciudad Juárez, and Tijuana.

Since the Trump Administration assumed office, the conditions along the border have changed dramatically.

Some asylum seekers in Mexico have left border cities, returned to their cities of origin, or crossed into the United States as clandestine migrants between ports of entry.

Asylum Processing at the U.S.-Mexico Border: February 2025 - The Strauss Center This February 2025 asylum processing update focuses on current U.S. asylum policies at ports of entry and migrants’ experiences in Mexican border cities. As of January 20, 2025, there is no longer any...

The @StraussCenter February 2025 asylum processing report is out.

It highlights the big shifts at the border, since - as of January 20th - there is no longer any asylum processing at the border.

www.strausscenter.org/publications...

Dos militares que desertaron de la Fuerza Armada fueron deportados de EE. UU., dice Cabello El ministro indicó que los casos de las personas con antecedentes penales ya "están siendo trabajados" por las autoridades

Aboard the 2 flights that deported 190 people back to Caracas last week were 2 people who'd deserted #Venezuela’s military. The Trump administration delivered them right back to the dictatorship. The feared Interior Minister says, “They are being given the appropriate treatment.”

Well done, folks.

Under Trump’s Mass Deportation Plan, Some Migrants Are Being Sent to Panama (Gift Article) The administration has asked Panama to take in hundreds of people who can’t easily be sent back to their countries. Many say they are in danger.

On Wednesday, U.S. officials began flying hundreds of people - including families with small children - to Panama. On the flight, children cried & a woman fainted. Now on the ground, Panamanian authorities says it will hold them in a camp in the Darien:

www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/w...

Post Next 50 50 people shaping our society in 2025

I'm incredibly honored to be named among the @washingtonpost.com Next 50!

I love this work, and am lucky to get to do it alongside so many wonderful, talented people every day.

www.washingtonpost.com/post-next/in...

📸 @swellstrategy

Camilo Montoya-Galvez @camiloreports on Twitter New reporting: U.S. Border Patrol recorded nearly 30,000 apprehensions of migrants crossing the southern border illegally in January, the lowest level since May 2020, according to unpublished government data. Illegal border crossings are nearing a 5-year low.

At the US-Mexico border:
- 16,500 Border Patrol agents
- 4,500 Texas National Guard
- 3,600 active-duty military (soon)
- 2,200 federalized Nat'l Guard

That’s about 26,800 soldiers and border agents.
For <30,000 migrant apprehensions.

Just 1.1 migrants per soldier/agent per month.