Border Crossings Drop After Title 42 Ends

U.S.-Mexico border crossings fell 50% after Title 42 was lifted, Homeland Security chief Alejandro Mayorkas said Sunday. 

The Details: Mayorkas said Border Patrol had roughly 6,300 encounters along the border Friday and 4,200 on Saturday, down considerably from the record 11,000 on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Key Quotes: "It is too early. But the numbers that we have experienced over the past two days are markedly down," said Mayorkas. "The amount of migrants we were expecting initially – the big flow – is not here yet," said the mayor of Laredo, Texas. Officials "expect numbers to crank back up again - but not to the record setting levels we saw this week," tweeted a Fox News (Right bias) reporter.

For Context: The Title 8 policy now in effect includes harsher penalties for unauthorized migrants.

How the Media Covered It: Many sources across the spectrum said the surge hadn't been as bad as expected in border communities. Left- and center-rated sources covered the news more prominently, with some projecting different feelings. Bloomberg (Lean Left) said the drop bucked "expectations of a surge." CBS News (Lean Left) said officials are "still preparing for big surge." Some right-rated sources highlighted voices who doubted the lull would last. The New York Post Editorial Board (Right) said "liberal media decided everything was just peachy at the southern border," but suggested officials aren't "enforcing the law anymore," highlighting reports that officials plan to release migrants into the U.S. without tracking them.