FROM THE BORDER – U.S. Customs and Border Patrol is at a breaking point as agents grapple with little resources needed to operate and process migrants along the southern border. The strain on resources is so dire it has caused CBP to release migrants into the U.S. after minimal background checks.
On Friday, President Trump threatened to close down the border if Mexico doesn’t immediately halt the overwhelming number of illegal immigrants coming into the U.S. In just the month of March, CBP is on track to apprehend more than 100,000 illegal immigrants, the highest monthly number in ten years. Last week, CBP confirmed they have already taken 12,000 illegal immigrants into custody.
On Twitter Trump said Democrats have provided weak immigration laws, while Mexico has strong immigration laws and benefits off of the U.S.
The DEMOCRATS have given us the weakest immigration laws anywhere in the World. Mexico has the strongest, & they make more than $100 Billion a year on the U.S. Therefore, CONGRESS MUST CHANGE OUR WEAK IMMIGRATION LAWS NOW, & Mexico must stop illegals from entering the U.S….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2019
….through their country and our Southern Border. Mexico has for many years made a fortune off of the U.S., far greater than Border Costs. If Mexico doesn’t immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States throug our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2019
In the last tweet of the series, Trump said Mexico is simply taking money from the U.S.
….the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week. This would be so easy for Mexico to do, but they just take our money and “talk.” Besides, we lose so much money with them, especially when you add in drug trafficking etc.), that the Border closing would be a good thing!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 29, 2019
Trump’s tweets slamming back against Democrats and Mexico come after CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said the southern border has reached its breaking point as authorities didn’t have enough agents and facilities to respond to the large surge of illegal immigrants crossing into the U.S. McAleenan’s statement came on the heels of a report from CBP stating the highest number of apprehensions and encounters they have seen in over a decade. The report detailed 40,000 apprehensions in a single day.
Monday morning, in an op-ed, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen voiced her concerns about the growing crisis along the southern border.
“The situation at our southern border has gone from a crisis to a near system-wide meltdown. As the president has declared – this is a national emergency.”
Nielsen also pointed out that compared to previous years, the migrants we see now are arriving in large groups. In this fiscal year there have already been arrivals of more than 100 large groups in comparison to one or two large groups of over 100 migrants in previous years.
Nielsen noted smugglers and traffickers know the weaknesses along the southern border – this includes outdated laws, misguided court decisions, and a backlog of cases.
Marissa Martinez is a political contributor for Accuracy in Media. She is the former political director to Massachusetts Governor’s re-election campaign, alumna of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and political consultant to national PACs. Follow her AIM border stories, @MarissaAlisa.
Comments
Comments are turned off for this article.