The report shows over 144,000 individuals were apprehended or detained in May. This is roughly equivalent to the populations of McAllen or Savannah, Georgia.
In fact, May is now the third consecutive month with over 100,000 apprehensions, spiking an eye-popping 32 percent from April.
The report comes a week after presidential hopeful Beto O’Rourke released an immigration plan that calls for the U.S. to double its “investment” in the northern triangle (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras) and calls for a halt on construction on barriers at the border.
O’Rourke accused the Trump administration of “sowing seeds of chaos” at the border and “manufacturing crises in our communities.”
In early May, however, CBP released a statement saying, “U.S. Border Patrol agents continue to process and receive unprecedented numbers of illegal aliens entering the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector. On Saturday, agents from Brownsville to Roma apprehended over 2,400 illegal aliens, the majority of which consist of family units and unaccompanied children who readily turn themselves into agents.”
Yesterday, Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives held a final vote on HR 6, a bill they claim would bring comprehensive immigration reform by offering a pathway to permanent residence and citizenship for DACA recipients (commonly known as Dreamers) and those who qualify for temporary protected or deferred enforced departure status.
All but 10 Democrats rejected a motion by Republicans to recommit the bill back to the House Judiciary Committee with language that would have made illegal aliens affiliated with criminal gangs ineligible for the pathway to citizenship.
The motion ultimately failed.
CBP has reported that it has had to open temporary facilities in Eagle Pass and Donna to deal with the mass influx in numbers.
“All of the stations in Del Rio Sector are experiencing significant capacity issues, but none more so than Eagle Pass South Station,” said Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul L. Ortiz yesterday.
“The addition of these structures will assist with managing the crowding in the station until a more permanent solution is found.”
A CBP statement released yesterday goes on to say, “Since October 2018, the Del Rio Sector has arrested over 34,000 people, almost 18,000 of which have been family units. This is more than a 200 percent increase in total arrests, and a 1000 percent increase in family unit arrests compared to the same time last year.”
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