U.S. border authorities stopped migrants more often on the southern border for a fourth straight month in May, apparently unaffected by expectations that pandemic-era limits on asylum may be lifted.

Migrants were stopped 239,416 times in May, up 2% from 235,478 in April and up 33% from 180,597 in May 2021, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Wednesday.

Recent months are the busiest in decades, but comparisons to pre-pandemic levels are complicated because migrants expelled under a public health authority known as Title 42 face no legal consequences, encouraging repeat attempts. Authorities said 25% of encounters were with people who had been stopped at least once in the previous year, compared with 15% in the five years before COVID-19.

The Biden administration planned to end Title 42 on May 23 but a federal judge in Louisiana blocked the move three days before. {snip}

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