Number Of Families Crossing Borders Is Nearly Double Last Year’s Totals: ‘The System Is Well Beyond Capacity’
Border agents are struggling to meet medical needs and thousands of exhausted members of migrant families crammed into a detention system that was not built to house them. Officials say the system is at its breaking point. The latest numbers are a blow to the Trump administration's recent, aggressive actions to curb the flow of people over the border.
The New York Times:
Border At ‘Breaking Point’ As More Than 76,000 Migrants Cross In A Month
The number of migrant families crossing the southwest border has once again broken records, with unauthorized entries nearly doubling what they were a year ago, suggesting that the Trump administration’s aggressive policies have not discouraged new migration to the United States. More than 76,000 migrants crossed the border without authorization in February, an 11-year high and a strong sign that stepped-up prosecutions, new controls on asylum and harsher detention policies have not reversed what remains a powerful lure for thousands of families fleeing violence and poverty. (Dickerson, 3/5)
The Wall Street Journal:
Record Immigration Surge At The Border
“This situation is not sustainable,” Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said while releasing the numbers Tuesday. “The system is well beyond capacity and remains at the breaking point.” On Tuesday afternoon, the White House highlighted the new numbers, saying they “reflect an ever-worsening crisis on our southern border.” Mr. McAleenan said his agency was taking steps to establish a center near El Paso, Texas, specifically to process families and children, and in particular, to conduct medical assessments. (Caldwell and Radnofsky, 3/5)
The New York Times:
More Migrants Are Crossing The Border This Year. What’s Changed?
President Trump has tried to halt the arrival of undocumented migrants by beefing up border security, limiting who qualifies for asylum and, for a while, separating migrant children from their parents at the border. However, figures released on Tuesday suggest that those measures are failing to deter tens of thousands of migrants from journeying over land to the United States. Indeed, after shriveling to the smallest total in five decades, the number of migrants intercepted at the southern border — the best indicator of how many undocumented people are entering the United States — is soaring again. (Jordan, 3/5)
And in related news —
The Associated Press:
Company Behind Florida Migrant Children Camp Drops IPO Plans
The corporation behind a Florida detention camp for migrant children abandoned its plans to go public Tuesday as controversy grows around policies that lock up children crossing the Mexico border. The chairman of Caliburn International Corp., Thomas J. Campbell, sent a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission saying it no longer wishes to conduct a public offering. (Gomez Licon, 3/5)
The New York Times:
A Mother And Daughter Both Have H.I.V. The U.S. Lets In Only One.
Even after more than six months, Kirad wasn’t used to sharing a bed with her mother. She was now 17, and ever since they arrived in New York after fleeing Honduras, they were stuck in the same room. They were staying in a tiny bungalow in Far Rockaway, Queens, that belonged to Kirad’s aunt. The only common space was a kitchen just big enough to squeeze in a love seat and a small table. Every surface was covered with pots and pans, cereal boxes and bags of food. “We fight sometimes over the TV,” Kirad said, “because my mom wants to watch something and I want to watch something different so I go to my aunt’s room.” (Fertig, 3/6)
