Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Press Secretary Tyler Houlton released a statement on June 6 regarding U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) apprehension numbers for the Southwest border for May. The report noted that May was the third month in a row during which more than 50,000 illegal border-crossers were apprehended while attempting to cross the Southwest border.
The number of apprehended illegal border-crossers increased slightly from April and climbed by 160 percent in May 2018 in comparison to May 2017, noted the statement. The statement provided this take on the figures:
These numbers show that while the Trump administration is restoring the rule of law, it will take a sustained effort and continuous commitment of resources over many months to disrupt cartels, smugglers, and nefarious actors. We are taking action and will be referring and then prosecuting 100 percent of illegal border crossers, we are building the first new border wall in a decade, and we have deployed the National Guard to the border.
The statement also observed that border officials are seeing family units try to illegally cross our borders at “staggering rates.” The number of illegal family units trying to cross the border during May increased by 435 percent in comparison to May 2017. Additionally, the number of unaccompanied alien children apprehended illegally crossing the border increased by 329 percent in May 2018 in comparison to May 2017.
The Washington Post reported on June 6 that the vast majority of illegal border-crossers continue to come across the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, but so far this year a greater percentage have been taken into custody in southern Arizona. This is reflected in figures for the Border Patrol’s Tucson sector, where the number of underage migrants detained has risen 42 percent since last September. In the Yuma sector, the increase is 110 percent.
Underage migrants detained by Border Patrol agents are quickly transferred to shelters run by the Department of Health and Human Services.
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Illegal Border Crossings Decreased 40 Percent During Trump’s First Month
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