Yesterday the Department of Homeland Security released new numbers showing 76,000 illegal aliens crossed the southern border into the United States in February, further overwhelming and hemoraging resources. They were apprehended.
White House Press Secretary Sanders is putting that number into context.
Sarah Sanders on new border apprehension numbers: "76,000 illegal individuals came across our border just last month alone.... That would fill MetLife stadium.... If that doesn't define crisis, I don't know what does."
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) March 6, 2019
In January, 58,000 individuals crossed.
"As border personnel deal with the surge of family unit aliens and alien minors arriving at our border, they are hamstrung by dangerous catch and release loopholes. Catch and release loopholes created by Federal law and activist left-wing judges have helped fuel the unprecedented crisis we are facing at the border," the White House released Tuesday. "These loopholes have created a de facto immunity for many illegal aliens by limiting our ability to detain them for more than a short period of time. Activist judges interpreting the Flores Settlement Agreement have drastically hindered our ability to detain and remove illegal alien family units. As a result, the Government is forced to release entire family units into the interior of the United States, after which they often fail to appear for court hearings."
"The President has taken action to address this crisis and build barriers desperately needed at our border, including declaring a national emergency," the statement continues.
Meanwhile, Congress is busy condemning President Trump for declaring a national emergency over this ongoing crisis. Today the Senate Judiciary Committee is holding an oversight hearing about Border Patrol's response to ongoing human smuggling at the border. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is testifying on the House side in front of the Homeland Security Committee.
“The truth is that the politics and policies of open borders have failed the American people. Our broken system endures, and the ongoing humanitarian and security crisis at our Southwest Border leaves many minors and families at extreme risk of being exploited by traffickers, human smugglers, gangs, and other nefarious actors seeking to profit at their expense,” Nielsen released in a statement Wednesday morning. “Activist courts, congressional inaction, and criminals intent on breaking our laws stand in the way of confronting illegal and uncontrolled migration threatening our safety and security. What was a crisis, is now a full-fledged emergency.”
Here are some additional numbers on the issue, courtesy of DHS and the White House:
-In the last two years alone, ICE officers have arrested 266,000 aliens with criminal records including those convicted of nearly 100,000 assaults, 30,000 sex crimes, and 4,000 homicides.
-In Texas, 276,000 criminal aliens were booked into local jails between June 1, 2011 and December 31, 2018, of which over 186,000 were classified as illegal aliens by DHS.
-Last year, ICE officers removed more than 10,000 known or suspected gang members already in our country illegally.
-Each week, approximately 300 Americans have died from heroin overdoses, of which nearly 90% comes across our southern border.
-Just last month, CBP made the largest seizure fentanyl ever recorded attempting to cross the southern border. It was enough to kill more than 115 million Americans.
-Alarmingly, CBP has reported that fentanyl smuggling between ports of entry at the southern border has more than doubled over our last fiscal year. Fentanyl was responsible for more than 28,400 overdose deaths variety of Americans in 2017. Just a few weeks ago, CBP made its largest fentanyl bust in U.S. history, seizing 254 pounds hidden in a truck trailer compartment.
-One in three women are sexually assaulted on the journey to the border.
-In FY 2018, ICE made more than 1,500 human trafficking arrests – 97% of them for sex-trafficking.
20,000 children were illegally smuggled into the United States during the month of December, alone.
-In the first five months of fiscal year 2018, CBP saw a 315% increase in individuals using children to pose as family units to gain entry into the United States.
-CBP has recorded a 50% spike over the last fiscal year of the number of gang members apprehended at the southern border.