At a press briefing conducted by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday, numbers were offered that showed how urgently U.S. Border Patrol needs help, including the fact that in February alone, the Border Patrol executed over 66,000 apprehensions of illegal immigrants.
Brian Hastings, chief of operations at Border Control headquarters, stated that in February, U.S. Border Patrol executed over 66,000 apprehensions; since October there have been over 268,000 apprehensions, a 97% increase over the previous fiscal year to that point. Hastings noted that some people said there were comparable numbers in the past, but Hastings pointed out that the demographics are different now, as in the past the immigrants were primarily from Mexico, and thus returning them was not as difficult, while presently the bulk of immigrants are coming from what he called the “northern triangle” of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.
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