Numbers Climb for Apprehension of Illegals During Fiscal 2016

Article audio sponsored by The John Birch Society

The rise in the number of apprehensions of aliens crossing the border illegally continued a pattern established during the first six months of fiscal 2016 (which ended on March 31) as the U.S. Border Patrol set a new record in April, arresting a total of 38,135 illegal aliens during the 30-day period — about 1,271 per day.

The Border Patrol’s April figures were an increase from 33,319 in March and broke the previous record of 37,014 set last December.

The figures for Unaccompanied Children apprehended during the month of April were 5,219, up from 4,452 in March.

A report in Breitbart on May 13 cited Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data indicating that since fiscal year 2014, CBP agents have apprehended nearly 47,000 criminal aliens — over 6,400 of whom were caught more than once. Breaking those statistics down further, 18,645 criminal aliens were apprehended in FY 2015, 2,366 of whom were recidivists. There have been 6,435 criminal alien apprehensions in FY 2016, through April 12, 626 of whom are recidivists.

Breitbart quoted a statement provided to them by CBP spokesman Dan Hetlage, who made clear that his agency does not have jurisdiction over those aliens who commit crimes after entering the United States. Hetlage said that the new CBP figures refer specifically to illegal aliens who already had a criminal record in the United States and were then apprehended at the Southwest border. He noted CBP’s good track record, saying:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s agents and officers protect America by preventing terrorists and criminals from entering the country while welcoming legitimate travelers and commerce. Our highly trained law enforcement personnel apprehend more than 1,000 individuals each day for suspected violations of U.S. Laws.

Breitbart also quoted testimony provided by National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd offered before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Border Security in February noting that number of criminal aliens apprehended at the Southwest border is but a fraction of the total number of criminals who make it across. Said Judd:

A safe estimate from the Border Patrol agents would be that we arrest about 40 percent of what actually crosses.

So if you’ve got the official numbers from the agency about what we actually arrest, that’s about 40 percent of what comes.

Judd also testified before the National Security Subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee on March 23, when he was quite frank about the state of our border enforcement, stating: “As someone who has been involved in border protection for over 18 years, I can unequivocally tell you the border is not secure and the situation is getting worse instead of better.”

As we noted in our article on May 5, other law-enforcement personnel working near the border have complained about the Obama administration’s lack of support for the Border Patrol’s efforts. On March 8, Pinal County, Arizona, Sheriff Paul Babeu spoke at a joint press conference with leaders of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), which represents approximately 18,000 Border Patrol agents and support personnel.

During his talk, Babeu noted that the number of illegal immigrants crossing our border during the first four months of this fiscal year has risen by 25 percent. Furthermore, he said, there has been a 102-percent increase in unaccompanied juveniles crossing illegally. “What we see from this administration is an actual reduction [in the number of Border Patrol agents] at a time we should be providing more support to secure our border,” Babeu declared.

Our nation’s Border Patrol agents almost universally have done an excellent job of attempting to secure our nation’s borders. However, they are working under enormous handicaps, primarily stemming from the Obama administration’s lack of commitment to enforcing our nation’s immigration laws.

During a March 30 appearance on Fox News with Sean Hannity, NBPC vice president Shawn Moran explained that the problem of securing our borders is not because of failure of border personnel, but because of limitations imposed by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C.:

I think the American people don’t understand the full breadth of this problem. We have a president who has appointed a commissioner of Customs and Border Protection [Gil Kerlikowske] who is more political than ever, and they have carved out our immigration laws by policy, where border patrol agents are basically letting everyone we catch out the door. That’s not border security. We need a president who understands the problem, who is going to put the right political appointees in there, and who is going to let border patrol agents go out and enforce the law.

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