One year into Trump’s second term, the ripple-effect continues across the San Diego border region

Tents are still set up inside the Juventud 2000 shelter in Tijuana, ready to provide migrants with a place to stay. But on a recent Wednesday, the once-busy refuge was quiet. Unlike this time last year, nearly all of the tents are empty.

“The difference is clear from the moment you get here,” noted José María García, the shelter’s director.

Migrant shelters in Tijuana have historically been an indicator of the state of affairs at the U.S.-Mexico border. One year ago, dozens of families, many of them asylum seekers, clung to their last shred of hope as they waited at the same shelter for confirmation to legally come in for vetting at a port of entry through the Biden-era CBP One app’s appointment system. As President Donald Trump’s inauguration date approached, time was running out for many migrants who had waited for months.

Trump had campaigned heavily on “closing the border.” And so he did.

The difference is staggering one year later.

Data from the latest monthly report by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows a 92% decrease in migrant apprehensions by Border Patrol along San Diego County’s border wi...