ImmigrationNumber of unaccompanied children crossing into U.S. declines sharply

Federal officials unprepared for influx of unaccompanied children // Source: patheos.com

The number of unaccompanied children apprehended by federal agents along the U.S.-Mexico border last October was down by 40 percent compared with October 2013, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials. The news comes as President Barack Obama plans to issue an executive order which would protect more than five million undocumented immigrants from deportation. Republican lawmakers have vowed to stop the president from making policy changes to immigration laws without Congressional support. “We’re going to fight the president tooth and nail if he continues down this path. This is the wrong way to govern. This is exactly what the American people said on election day they didn’t want,” House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said last Thursday. “And so, all the options are on the table.”

The Los Angeles Times reports that in the nine sectors of the Southwest border from California to Texas, federal border officials apprehended 2,529 children last October, down from 4,181 in October 2013. Family apprehensions also decreased about 10 percent — from 2,414 in October 2013 to 2,163 in October 2014. DHS chief Jeh Johnson said the decreasing numbers are part of a continuing trend. “Over the last fifteen years, the number of apprehensions on our Southwest border — a major indicator of total attempts to cross the border illegally — has declined significantly; it is now less than a third of what it was in the year 2000, and it’s at its lowest level since the 1970s,” Johnson said last month at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

In the past twelve months, over 65,000 unaccompanied Central American children have crossed the U.S. border through Mexico, but border officials have responded with swift action including adding more flights to repatriate migrants back to Central America and increasing public awareness campaigns in Central America- discouraging people from leaving their countries for the United States. “Without a doubt, we had a setback this summer, with the unprecedented number of unaccompanied children and others who crossed a narrow area of our southern border in the Rio Grande Valley, in search of a family member and a better life in this country,” Johnson said. “We responded aggressively to this spike, and, in fact, now the numbers of unaccompanied children crossing into the Rio Grande Valley are at the lowest they’ve been in almost two years.” Border officials have also urged Mexican authorities to increase enforcement along their borders with Central American countries.

On his pending executive order regarding immigration, Obama told reporters during a news conference, “I indicated to Speaker Boehner several months ago that if, in fact, Congress failed to act, I would use all the lawful authority that I possess to try to make the system work better,” Obama said. “And that’s going to happen. That’s going to happen before the end of the year.”

Part of his executive order may include extending deportation protections to parents and spouses of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have lived in the United States for several years. Obama may also expand his two-year-old program which protects young immigrants from being deported.