According to Border Patrol statistics, released last week, the number of illegal aliens caught at the southern border has already exceeded the number caught in FY15, with two months left in the fiscal year. 332,465 illegal aliens have been apprehended at the southern border so far this year compared to the 331,333 apprehended last year.
The number of apprehensions in July alone increased almost 15% from 28,388 in FY15 to 33,737 this year. The report shows that the increase can be contributed to the surge of unaccompanied children (UAC) and family units crossing the border. 7,500 family units and 5,068 UACs crossed the border in July, up from 6,626 family units and 4,789 UACs in June. The increase during the summer months is troubling since the hot weather usually slows down the flow of border crossers.
Many families and children are crossing the border illegally to take advantage of the Obama administration’s lax enforcement policies such as the reinstated catch-and-release policy and declining deportations. A federal judge also ruled last year that illegal alien children must be quickly processed and released, due to the Flores-agreement signed in 1997.
A deputy assistant attorney, Leon Fresco, told a federal judge in June that this encourages families and children to cross the border saying, “When people now know that when I come as a family unit, I won’t be apprehended and detained.”
Read more on this story at The Washington Times.
