The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) just released a new report showing that border apprehensions increased by 15% from June but remains 47% lower than July 2016. July saw the highest number of border apprehensions since Pres. Trump took office though total apprehensions are still 22% lower than the same time period in FY16.
In July 25,031 border crossers were caught, up from 21,656 in June. Historically, border crossings drop in July and DHS is working on finding out what this change in trends mean.
“The short answer is we don’t know what all of those causes are,” David Lapan, spokesman for Homeland Security told reporters.
The number of unaccompanied minors (UACs) apprehended at the border also increased by 27% from 1,952 in June to 2,495 in July. 3,397 family units were caught in July up from 2,322 in June, a 46% increase.
One reason for the spike in UACs could be that while Pres. Trump has issued an executive order in January to stop Pres. Obama’s catch-and-release policy, it has yet to be implemented on the ground.
"I confirmed with our HQ people, and we have not changed anything," Customs and Border Protection spokesman Roger Maier told LifeZette in an email.
When Border Patrol officers encounter non-Mexican youths who have illegally crossed the border, they are turned over to ICE agents who then send them to the Office of Refugee Resettlement. ORR then either finds the children sponsors and releases them into the U.S. or holds them in custody.
According to research from CIS over a third of the UACs placed with sponsors this year failed to show up to their immigration hearings. The Associated Press has also reported that about 80% of these children went to sponsors who were illegal aliens themselves.
"The problem with that is we're seeing a pickup of traffic again … The rhetoric worked, but the powers that be didn't follow though in the president's promises," Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said.
Read more on this story at The Washington Times.
