U.S. Border crossings are slowing with help from Mexico, reports NBC News.
More than 280,000 migrants have been stopped inside Mexico this year, compared with roughly 100,000 last year. U.S. officials have apprehended 189,000 migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border this year, compared with 193,000 last year.
Customs and Border Protection officials expect April figures to be lower than last April and May — CBP recorded roughly 129,000 unlawful crossings, the second consecutive monthly drop, according to preliminary government data obtained by CBS News.
Illegal crossings along the southern border have dropped by more than 40% this year since reaching record highs in December.
Many migrants in Mexico are waiting to make appointments for U.S. asylum hearings through a smartphone app known as CBP One.
But the app doesn't work south of Mexico City.
"In one way, they are doing the dirty work of the U.S. in order to keep people from accessing the U.S. southern border and exercising their right to seek safety," Amy Fischer, director of refugee and migrant rights at Amnesty International USA, told NBC News.
The Biden administration on Wednesday lauded Mexico's cooperation.
"President Biden and President AMLO [Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador] have developed a relationship in which they talk about the shared challenges [of migration], and they both jointly recognize the shared challenges," a senior Biden administration official said. "They've had multiple conversations and multiple calls over the last couple of years tackling and talking about this issue."