Illegal border crossings fall in July but remain high

WASHINGTON (AP) — Authorities say migrants were stopped fewer times at the U.S. border with Mexico in July than in June, a second straight monthly decline. Flows were still unusually high, particularly among nationalities less affected by a pandemic-era rule, Title 42, that denies migrants legal rights to seek asylum on grounds of preventing spread of COVID-19. In theory, Title 42 applies to all nationalities. But costs, diplomatic relations and others considerations usually dictate who is expelled under the public health authority. Customs and Border Protection says authorities stopped migrants nearly 200,000 times at the Mexican border in July, down 4% from June.