Border Patrol agents hold a news conference prior to a media tour of a new U.S. Customs and Border Protection temporary facility near the Donna International Bridge, Thursday, May 2, 2019, in Donna, Texas. Officials say the site will primarily be used as a temporary site for processing and care of unaccompanied migrant children and families and will increase the Border Patrol’s capacity to process migrant families. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

It seems the pandemic is having a tremendous affect on nearly every facet of society.

And in these diseased times, illegal immigration ain’t what it used to be.

As reported by the Washington Examiner, the last several days have seen a stunning decline:

The number of foreigners arrested for illegally entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, and along the coasts have dropped to almost nothing in the past week as the U.S. became the world leader in confirmed cases, according to Department of Homeland Security officials.

On Sunday, for example, Border Patrol agents ran into only 79 people trying to sneak into the country between ports of entry.

If you apply that number across an entire month, it’s less than 2,500 arrests.

In February, by contrast, there were 30,000 apprehensions.

Last May — amid a peak in illegal crossings — there were 132,000.

A high-ranking BP official described the state of things to the Examiner:

“It’s like next to nothing. For almost a week, their apprehensions have been under 150. This is what happened on 9/11 — on steroids. Mexico has locked down a lot of their country … and then they [migrants] think if they come to the U.S., they’re going to catch the virus.”

They’ve definitely been de-incentivized.

At the time of this writing, there’ve been 386,104 cases of the virus in the United States.

Mexico’s had 2,439. That’s 19 cases per million.

The U.S. is sitting on 1,166 cases per.

An official in Texas noted that, while the Patrol was seeing hundreds of arrests per day earlier this year, they’re now down to “single-digit [apprehensions] per shift.”

The first official mentioned said human smuggling is suffering in the same way other industries are:

“It’s just more proof that it’s a trillion-dollar business model. It’s all a business, and it’s going down just like any other business model right now.”

Current numbers, however, may not be completely accurate.

From the Examiner:

Migrants from Mexico and other countries are still being tallied by Border Patrol, even though they are immediately returned to home countries at an expedited rate instead of being held in federal custody for longer periods. Because agents are documenting the apprehensions in the field, not at stations, the twice-a-day counts that are sent to headquarters in Washington may be delayed, skewing the actual daily numbers.

The dramatic downturn in attempted illegal entries to the U.S. comes a day after the Trump administration announced plans to send an additional 540 troops to the U.S.-Mexico border, which includes Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, and California. Gen. Terrance O’Shaughnessy, the U.S. NORTHCOM commander, cited an “increased demand signal” to help federal agents on the southern border even as arrests stand at the lowest levels in several decades.

The border’s no stranger to problems, but — as explained by the official — now we’ve got a new crisis.

“The issue is what to do with everyone on the border since there’s no one to arrest. They flushed out the academy, and they need places for them to go. People are on the payroll, and you have to have them start doing work.”

Did you ever expect to read that?

A reduction in travel’s changed things as well, in terms of inspections at our southern edge. Subsequently, 300-400 agents have been sent from the south to the northern border.

Meanwhile, however, due to the coronavirus — as observed by The Daily Wire — other personnel are being directed down south.

Courtesy of Business Insider:

The U.S. military is deploying an additional 540 troops to the US-Mexico border to assist Border Patrol agents handling migrants who may be COVID-19 positive … As the U.S. deploys troops, hospital ships and other military assets across the U.S. to combat the rapidly spreading COVID-19, Gen. Terrance O’Shaughnessy, the commander of US NORTHCOM told reporters Wednesday that there was also an ‘increased demand signal’ for support to help secure the southern border over COVID-19 concerns.

Once we’re over this viral hump, there’s sure to be an economic explosion in America.

And no doubt, travel will surge.

Will we see the same for those crossing rough terrain to get smuggled in?

I’d say it seems likely — unless, like many in the States amid the pandemic, they’ve come to realize they enjoy staying home.

-ALEX

See 3 more pieces from me:

Even Larry David Believes Bernie Should Call It Quits, So Everyone Can ‘Support Biden.’ Bad Move

Dr. Drew Says the Media Needs to Put a Sock In It Over the Wuhan Coronavirus: ‘I Would Like Them To Shut Up’

Would Mark Cuban Be a Smart Replacement for Biden? He Says He’s Keeping ‘an Open Mind’

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