According to CBP, the number of encounters each day with migrants from those four nations dropped precipitously last month, from a 7-day average of more than 1,200 on Jan. 5, the day the migration program was announced, to an average of 59 on the last day of the month.

“The January monthly operational update clearly illustrates that new border enforcement measures are working, with the lowest level of Border Patrol encounters between Ports of Entry since February of 2021,” CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller said in a news release.

Miller also said the trends “have continued into February, with average encounters of Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans plummeting.”

An administration official, who briefed reporters Friday on the condition of anonymity, said the lower migration levels in January are “the result of a highly effective strategy that the Biden administration has been implementing since day one, both at our border and across the Western Hemisphere.”

“I think it points to the fact that the model we have put forward here of providing robust avenues for individuals to access protection and opportunity in the U.S., combined with the application of consequences at ports of entry, can really dramatically change migratory patterns and migratory behavior,” another administration official said.