According to Customs and Border Protection, the number of adult illegal immigrants arrested at the border reached a 20-year high in April. But for the first time all year, the number of unaccompanied children and families has declined slightly.
The CBP says that the number of border apprehensions rose to 173,000 in April, while the number of illegals traveling as families dropped to 48,200. The number of illegal kids fell to nearly 17,000. That’s about a 10 percent drop in those totals, according to the CBP.
In March, the government reported 171,000 border arrests of adults and 18,800 detentions of unaccompanied minors.
One reason for the fall-off in border crossings could be stricter enforcement of border policies by Mexican authorities, especially along the border with Guatemala, where most Central American refugees cross.
Biden’s shell games with children being detained continued in April as the border patrol reported that only 455 children were being detained in CBP shelters. That’s down from a high of 5,700 on March 28. But there are still about 20,600 kids now being housed in convention centers and army bases across the Southwest.
To accommodate the children once they were moved out of the Border Patrol facilities, the government rapidly expanded its network of child shelters overseen by the Department of Health and Human Services, opening more than a dozen emergency shelters in convention centers, on army bases and at other locations. There are currently about 20,600 kids in HHS custody as the government works to unite them with family members or other adults who can serve as guardians in the U.S. until their immigration cases are resolved, a process that can take years.
The numbers are almost certainly higher given the huge number of illegal aliens who evade the border patrol and make it to the interior of the United States.
The Biden administration has continued to enforce a public-health-emergency order, known as Title 42, which allows agents to turn away migrants without formally arresting them—a step that also eliminates a chance for the migrants to ask for asylum. The policy is the subject of several court challenges by the American Civil Liberties Union and other immigrant advocacy groups, who say it is illegal because people in danger of being persecuted in their home countries shouldn’t be immediately returned, under federal law.
“Since October, the start of the government’s budget year, Border Patrol agents have recorded 724,984 arrests at the Mexican border. The agency has used its Title 42 authority 536,793 times,” the report continued. Title 42 is a pandemic relief measure instituted by Donald Trump that shut the border to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
What happens when Title 42 is dropped by the Biden administration? Most of those who are currently turned away at the border will be allowed to make their asylum claims. They almost certainly won’t be detained long. So, every month after the lifting of pandemic restrictions, we can expect at least 100,000 migrants to be given a slip of paper with a court date on it — usually 3-5 years into the future — and then would be released to go on their merry way.
Yes, but at least there won’t be a “crisis” at the border.
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