The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to alarm the public about the crisis at the southern border, a crisis that now includes an “illegal immigrant superhighway” that could wreak havoc for United States immigration officials and their very limited resources.
DHS previously stated that more than 100,000 migrants were apprehended in March alone. But because the detention centers used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are at full capacity, Border Patrol was forced to release many thousands of immigrants into the United States.
The immigrants that’re not released on our soil are kept in ICE facilities where they often receive medical treatment. As many as 2,000 migrants receive medical attention per month, immigration officials reported.
The influx of immigrant families in March put a big strain on resources at our southern border, but it does not look like immigration officials are going to catch a break anytime soon.
One senior DHS official stated that immigrants have been barreling through Mexico from many Central American countries en route to the United States, telling the Washington Times, “The result is an illegal immigration superhighway that’s flowing through Mexico.”
Mexican officials echoed that sentiment, noting that a new caravan of around 20,000 immigrants is currently on its way to their north border.
This “superhighway” is one of the most important reasons the President announced foreign aid cuts to Central America for putting forward more effort to deter immigrants. White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney stated that he wants to see more effort put forward by these countries to help the United States address the crisis at the border.
“There’s a lot of good ways to help solve this problem [at the border]. Congress could do it, but they’re not going to. Mexico could help us do it, they need to do a little more. Honduras could do more. Nicaragua could do more. El Salvador could do more. And if we’re going to give these countries hundreds of millions of dollars, we would like them to do more.”
On Monday morning, President Donald Trump made a similar call to Democrats on Twitter, asking them to work with Republicans to reform the asylum process in the United States so that migrants are not just released into the country when detention facilities reach capacity.
Other Republicans echoed President Donald Trump’s points, calling for Democrats to take a serious look at our southern border and make the right decision.