Illegal crossings into the U.S. across the southern border have decreased during the Trump administration relative to the Obama administration, said the U.S. Border Patrol’s top official.
“Illegal crossings along the southwest border,” said U.S. Border Patrol Acting Chief Carla Provost during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, had seen a “historic decline” in 2017.
Among 150,000 apprehensions of unaccompanied children illegally crossing the southern border since 2012, 160 have been suspected of having gang affiliations, said Provost.
Violent attacks against border guards by foreigners seeking illegal entry to the homeland have increased this year relative to last year, said Provost, with 550 attacks on border guards as of June of 2017 compared with less than 300 during the same period of 2016.
Tighter border controls, said Provost, has led to an increase in violence used by those seeking illegal entry into the U.S. across the southern border.
Apprehensions at the southern border have dropped during the Trump administration relative to the Obama administration, according to data from Customs and Border Protection. March saw approximately 12,000 apprehensions at the southwest border, compared with over 33,000 in March of 2016; a 63% drop.
Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) pushed for amnesty and citizenship to be afforded to foreigners illegally in the country, alleging that such a move would reduce alleged reluctance among “undocumented” persons to cooperate with law enforcement to combat criminal gangs linked to South America.
Sen Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) suggested that stateside individuals and groups claiming affiliation with MS-13 were disingenuous, playing down the threat of the criminal gang’s presence in America.
The Department of Health and Human Services is seeking to reduce the number of shelters for minors illegally in the country, reports The Washington Examiner.
The Washington Examiner also speculates that illegal crossings across the southern border increased in 2016, with foreigners illegally entering the country “hoping to get to the U.S. in time for some kind of perceived improved treatment under President Hillary Clinton, or before President Donald Trump took steps to shut the border.”
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