WASHINGTON D.C.: US authorities said this week that a surge in Cubans and Nicaraguans arriving at the US border with Mexico in December led to the highest number of recorded monthly illegal border crossings during President Joe Biden's term.

The influx came shortly before 5th January, when Biden introduced measures to discourage the arrival of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans.

Customs and Border Protection said that in December, US authorities stopped 251,487 migrants along the Mexican border, up 7 percent from 234,896 in November and up 40 percent from 179,253 in December 2021.

Due to the arrival of Cubans and Nicaraguas, El Paso, Texas, was the busiest of the Border Patrol's nine sectors on the Mexican border for a third consecutive month, and the city was overwhelmed with migrants released to pursue their immigration cases in the US.

However, the number of Venezuelans arriving in the US was below September highs, when the South American country was the second-largest nationality at the border, after Mexicans. The US agreed to accept up to 24,000 Venezuelans on humanitarian parole in October.

This month, Biden said that the US would admit up to 30,000 people per month under humanitarian parole from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela, allowing them to live and work for two years if they apply online, pay their airfares and find financial sponsors.

In a news release, Troy Miller, CBP's acting commissioner, said that the latest measures could be working as planned.

"Early data suggests the expanded measures for Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans are having a similar impact," he said, as quoted by Reuters.