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The
U.S. will resume operations at an international bridge in Eagle
Pass, Texas, two crossings in Arizona and another near San
Diego, California, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said
in a press release, adding that it will continue to prioritize
border security "as necessary."
U.S. border authorities struggled in December to process
migrants as apprehensions reached nearly 11,000 in a single day,
which several current and former officials said was near or at a
record high.
Lawmakers remain in talks over a possible deal that would
combine increased border security measures with foreign aid,
including military funding for Ukraine, U.S. officials said.
"We gotta do something. They ought to give me the money I need
to protect the border," U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters
on his arrival at the White House on Tuesday evening, apparently
referring to members of Congress.
Mexican and U.S. officials pledged last week to work together
more closely to tackle record migration at their shared border
after top U.S. officials traveled to Mexico to meet with Mexican
President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador.
Mexican officials have stepped up immigration enforcement in
recent weeks, including moving migrants to southern Mexico and
resuming deportation flights to Venezuela, a senior U.S.
official said during a call with reporters on Tuesday,
requesting anonymity as a condition of the briefing.
Mexico on Tuesday evening cheered the reopening of the border
crossings.
"This will benefit the economies of both countries," Mexico's
foreign ministry, which had previously called for the reopening
of crossings between the two nations, said in a statement.
U.S. border authorities arrested an average of 6,400 migrants
per day over the past week, according to an internal U.S.
government report reviewed by Reuters, a steep decline from the
levels before Christmas.
A separate U.S. official on the call cautioned that migrant
crossings have historically dropped between Christmas and New
Year's Day.
"We have seen over the last year periods of increased encounters
and periods of decreased encounters," the official said. "We
will continue to stand ready to respond to these kinds of
surges."
(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington and Kristina Cooke in San
Francisco; additional reporting by Dan Whitcomb and Kylie Madry;
Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Michael Perry)
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