Apprehensions on the southern border hit 109,144 in April, the highest in a decade, according to data compiled by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.
It’s already larger than last year. Seven months into fiscal year 2019, with 531,711 apprehensions it has already topped the amount of apprehensions in all of fiscal year 2018, which was 521,090. This year could top 1 million if it continues accelerating.
It also beats fiscal years 2017 and 2015, and after next month could be larger than fiscal years 2016 and 2014.
According to a White House fact sheet, of the 109,144, “Over 61,000 of these illegal aliens arrived at the border as a part of family units, while over 9,000 were unaccompanied alien children,” accounting for almost two-thirds the total.
And thanks to the 1997 Flores consent decree, the federal government is required to release illegal aliens with minors after 20 days.
Plus, the 2008 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act makes it illegal to send unaccompanied minors from Central America back home to their countries.
Making matters worse, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has just 52,000 beds to detain those apprehended at the border, meaning a good deal of those coming will simply have to be let go.
And Congress made sure of that. Besides doing nothing to remove the incentives under Flores and the 2008 act, last year, the authorization in the spending bill allowed for an average daily of 40,520 beds, but President Donald Trump increased that to 49,000 by moving things around in the budget. This year, the new baseline is 45,274 beds that can be ratcheted up to 52,000. Not nearly enough to deal with the current flood of migration.
That is why President Trump has another $4.5 billion supplemental request into Congress for additional facilities and resources needed to effectively manage the humanitarian crisis — and that’s what it is, a crisis — at the border. $3.3 billion of that will go to humanitarian assistance, including enough beds for everyone who is being apprehended.
Of course, none of this would be necessary if the border were secured. Congress only included $1.6 billion from 2018 for replacing existing fencing with new steel barriers and $1.375 billion in 2019 for more steel barriers. President Trump had to resort to declaring a national emergency to unlock another $6.7 billion military construction funds, which Congressional Democrats are now challenging in court.
In addition, Congressional Democrats want to attach a policy rider to legislation that would defund the military construction route for building the wall.
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said the bill will ensure “we protect these vital military construction resources from misappropriation for the President’s wasteful border wall.”
To its credit, the House Freedom Caucus has announced it will oppose the measure. House Republican leaders need to follow suit, and work with Senate leaders to ensure it stays out of any final legislation, which President Trump will most assuredly veto.
Assuming that funding moves forward, Lt. Gen. Todd T. Semonite, Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, reporting from Calexico, Calif. told President Trump about 450 miles of wall will be built in 2019 and 2020: “Around Dec. 2020, the total amount of money we will have put in the ground in the last couple of years will be about 450 miles. That’s probably about $8 billion, in total about 33 projects.”
That is good, and can help create a deterrent for migrants to not make the journey. But besides the unfinished wall, one of the major attractions are the nation’s broken asylum laws.
The Trump administration is already addressing that in part with a new order from Attorney General William Barr to immigration judges that will block those making asylum claims from being released on bond while their proceedings are ongoing. The order states, “An alien who is transferred from expedited removal proceedings to full removal proceedings after establishing a credible fear of persecution or torture is ineligible for release on bond. Such an alien must be detained until his removal proceedings conclude, unless he is granted parole.” This will certainly rein in those failing to make court appearances.
But not everyone is making asylum claims, and are simply relying on the system being overwhelmed, as it is now, plus arriving with children as a ready means to get into the country. To end catch-and-release, Congress needs to step up and provide the resources that are needed, overturn the Flores decision and reform the 2008 law to allow unaccompanied minors who are not victims of trafficking to be deported. Doing so would mitigate the need in the future for things like the $4.5 billion supplemental for more beds. And finish the wall. As it is, Congress is creating this crisis by refusing to remove these loopholes. It wants catch-and-release.
This has gotten ridiculous. These “so-called” politicians seem more interested in protecting these criminals than protecting the country. Have to really wonder what their agenda is. Are they hoping to create a United State of Latin America as suggested by Dennis Michael Lynch? There are places we can’t do business anymore unless we speak Spanish. It should be they can’t do business here unless they learn English!
And they want a pay raise. I say they should get a large pay cut.
News feeds fail to give specifics of exactly where and how most are entering the US. There are lines of people waiting to get in from other countries. Others cross the river and sit by the border fence waiting to be picked up. They figured out being on US soil is all that’s needed. Border Patrol and military act as escorts to haul in for processing. News from yesterday stated 85% do not appear for third hearing. Those willing to go around the barrier risk their lives in the remote areas. If I did not have a passport or form of ID, I would not be allowed in.
It used to be an honorable profession to be a Statesman serving our country but now… politicians just want the power & $$$; giving themselves a pat on the behind with a pay raise every year, their own benefits unlike the American population with an auto retirement for what???
As for (D)’s…they are proving beyond doubt they are for open borders just for the votes…they are more for illegals than they are for America !!!
Trump 2020 !!! Drain the Swamp !!! Secure our Borders !!! Keeping America Great !!!
I’m confused, aren’t these house DemoncRATS actually Committing Treason? I always believed we need to protect our Borders from all illegal entry. If not then disband The Military, close down Congress and the Senate. Why do we need them? They do NOTHING to keep America a safe nation. Just give it away today instead of piecemeal.
This crap infuriates me!
The only way this nonsense is going to end is for us, the voting public, to elect candidates to work for us. Those like Debbie Wasserman Schultz need to be retired. Who is she working for? Soros? I sure hope our collective dissatisfaction is turned into action to evict the selfish self serving and dishonest lot that occupy offices in Washington DC. Schultz needs to go, Talib needs to go, Omar needs to go, Schiff needs to go and AOC, well, she should have never been there in the first place. The liars like Blumenthal who falsely claimed valor in Vietnam needs to be run out of office.
Even if the wall is built, how do you deal with people showing up at points of entry with bogus asylum claims. This country will be destroyed from within because the dems hate Trump so much that they can’t see the crisis in front of us all. The area i live in will be part of Mexico someday. The Alamo will be replaced with the Mexican flag and a tribute to the Mexicans that died there.
Okay, so another of our stupid laws favoring foreigners prevents ICE from deporting unaccompanied minors. Well, let’s just do this. Just because our congress and these scamming foreigners want our nation given over to needy, greedy, scamming foreigners doesn’t mean we HAVE to take responsibility for the teenagers of third world nations just exploiting the U.S.. Start today notifying each nation that from today on, their unaccompanied minor citizens will be turned over to the custody of their embassy in the western U.S. to return said citizens home. The US will provide a list to the nation/embassy and state that we will deliver their citizens on the list to the transport location of their choice on such and such a date (give them 2 weeks) where the nation/embassy must be prepared to immediately transport the minors out of the US and that the entire operation eill be conducted and observed by ICE agents and/or US Marshall’s. ASAP, get a list of all such minors being held in detention to the involved embassies. Each day, fax/phone the embassy with info of any of their minor citizens illegally arriving at our border that day. As soon as we clear out the detention centers and our new policy has slowed down these minors showing up at our door, start rounding up the ones already in our country, put them in a detention center and contact the embassies. At least, this way we can stop one part of this invasion in a way that the leftists, open-borders crazies cannot combat, even in our courts. We are not mistreating these teenagers in any way, just simply moving them into the custody of their own homelands for transport back home. Making sure the kids are returned to their families safely is the responsibility of the custodial nation, NOT us.
the wall needs to be bill let cut the house democrat paycheck to do it they only want these people here so they can have whatever the demnocrats want and that also their vote wake up people it time to speakout
All members of congress who do not want to fund the wall should be required to have at least 3 illegals living in their homes. Trump should follow through on shipping all illegals to sanctuary cities.
The democrats want to let anyone and everyone enter the country with no questions asked. Do they lock the doors at night or just let everyone enter their homes with no questions asked? Does these sanitary states have any locksmiths? Just wondering.