Number of Venezuelans crossing US-Mexico border drop dramatically in October - down to 26,637 from September's spike of 54,833 - as deportations start

The number of illegal border crossings by Venezuelans has dramatically dropped since the Biden administration began deportations back to the crisis-stricken nation. 

Arrests of Venezuelans plummeted 45 percent in October -  to 29,637 from a record high of 54,833 in September, when Venezuelans replaced Mexicans as the largest nationality appearing at the border.

Arrests of Venezuelans fell even more, by 74 percent in the second half of October from the same period of September. These tallies do not include migrants who have entered legally with an asylum appointment obtained through the CBP One mobile app.

Mexicans are back as the largest nationality crossing the border illegally, with Venezuelans now in second place, followed by Honduran, Guatemalan, Colombian, and Chinese migrants.

The Biden administration started deporting Venezuelans on October 18 for the first time in years after the Nicolas Maduro regime made a deal with the US government to start allowing the flights back to the socialist country. 

Overall illegal border crossings decreased last month - Border Patrol apprehended less than 189,000 migrants in October, down from nearly 219,000 in September. 

While crossings remain unusually high, the monthly decline is a rare piece of welcome news for a White House that has been criticized on the right and left flanks for its immigration policies. 

Border Patrol said: 'In conjunction with our resumption of removal flights to Venezuela consistent with delivering consequences for those who cross the border unlawfully, CBP saw a 65 percent decrease in southwest border encounters of Venezuelans in the second half of October, compared to the second half of September.'

Earlier this year Biden approved Temporary Protected Status to nearly 500,000 Venezuelans who arrived before July 31, while pledging to deport those who come illegally after that date and fail to get asylum. 

Panama has yet to release October figures for crossings through the notorious Darién jungle, which totaled more than 400,000 during the first nine months of the year, largely Venezuelans.

The dangerous 575,000-hectare jungle connects Colombia and Panama and serves as a route to the US for desperate migrants. More than a quarter million asylum seekers have crossed through the treacherous Darien Gap this year to get to the US.

The jungle is dominated by Colombian paramilitary groups and migrants are preyed upon by corrupt officials, gangs, thieves and sexual abusers throughout the crossing.

The migrants often stay in transit countries for weeks or months while they make money to continue their journey. These migrants have filled refugee camps in countries like Costa Rica, Panama and Mexico.

Tens of thousands of the migrants who have made the perilous trek to the US from South America have ended up in northern liberal cities after crossing the US-Mexico border.

Cities like New York and Chicago have been overwhelmed by a surge of migrants, with local governments running out of shelter space and spending millions of their budget funds setting up new shelters. 

 The historic The Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan - dubbed 'the new Ellis Island' by one city official - has become the registering point for the migrants and is currently housing 3,000 asylum seekers.

Mayor Eric Adams has signed $5,056,744,415 in nearly 200 contracts for migrant services since last year, when he declared a state of emergency.

Many of the migrants have been bused north by Texas governor Gregg Abbot in a campaign to call out what he calls open-border policies by Democrats. They have arrived without housing or jobs, forcing NYC to erect emergency shelters and provide various government services, with an estimated cost of $12billion over the next few years. 

According to Panama's National Immigration Service, more than 200,000 Venezuelans crossed the Darien Gap this year on their way to the United States. They are seeking asylum as they say they are fleeing the social and economic collapse of the socialist nation. 

Of the 248,000 migrants who traveled through the jungle last year, 40,438 were minors, UNICEF data showed. The agency also noted that more than 4,800 children and adolescents trekked through the dangerous rainforest in January, a seven-fold increase compared with the same period a year ago. 

Venezuela plunged into a political, economic and humanitarian crisis over the last decade, pushing more than 7 million people to leave. They initially settled in nearby countries in Latin America but began coming to the United States in the last three years, settling in New York, Chicago and other major cities. 

Venezuelans are the largest external displacement crisis in the world - followed by Ukrainians and Syria. It's a rare case of massive migration from a country that is not at war but has seen one of the most extreme fortune reversals in recent history after the socialist takeover over 20 years ago. 

The U.S. has struggled for years to deport people to countries with which it has strained diplomatic relations, including Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua. After a hiatus of more than two years, Cuba allowed for the resumption of U.S. deportations in April, with deportation flights there operating only about once a month. 

For decades, Mexicans accounted for the vast majority of illegal crossings but flows shifted over the last decade to Central Americans and, more recently, to people from South America, Africa and Asia. 

The Biden administration proposed about $14 billion for the border in a $106 billion spending package announced Friday and has insisted that any long-term solution requires help from Congress.

The administration has adopted a carrot-and-stick approach of new legal pathways to seek asylum with restrictions on those who don’t adhere to them.

About 43,000 migrants entered the country at land crossings with Mexico in September using a mobile app called CBP One, bringing the total to nearly 278,000 since the online appointment system began in January. Also, more than 265,000 people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela entered through September at airports after applying online with financial sponsors.

Including those legal pathways, the number of crossings hit a new all-time monthly high of 269,735 in September and a new budget-year high of nearly 2.5 million.