OAN’s Brooke Mallory
6:00 PM – Thursday, July 27, 2023
According to Customs and Border Protection statistics acquired by the press, the number of migrant families with children crossing the southern border has nearly tripled in the last two months, raising concerns among top officials.
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More than 2,230 migrants crossed the border daily on average earlier this week, up from 790 in early June. While single individuals continue to be the most apparent demographic at the border, records show that families are the fastest-growing cohort of unauthorized border crossers.
According to the data, the majority of the migrants come from Mexico and Central America.
Three top Department of Homeland Security officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity claimed that they are closely monitoring the number of families arriving since there is growing worry that border numbers will soon reach record highs.
According to migrant activists, more families are crossing to escape poverty and violence in their own home countries, as well as the chaotic cartel activity.
Conservatives have argued that migrants are enticed to bring their children with them on the perilous trek north into the United States since they are more likely to be allowed to seek asylum if minors are involved.
Migrants who cross the border with one or more children under the age of 18 are not detained under current Biden administration policy, as opposed to single adults who do not receive that benefit.
Although Biden administration officials originally suggested family imprisonment as a possible deterrent to migrants, when DHS officials predicted that numbers would grow once Title 42 was repealed, administration officials later decided that it was cruel.
Instead, the government has now reportedly implemented a new program in which newly arrived migrant families in four U.S. cities are subjected to curfews and the leaders of their households are required to wear ankle monitors until their immigration court appearances.
“Families encountered at the border are being processed through Expedited Removal with strict conditions, including continuous monitoring and home curfews. DHS has already removed families through this new non-detained enforcement process. CBP has surged personnel and transportation resources to strategic locations to respond to migrant encounters. We are continually evaluating operations and working with partner governments to address changes in migration flows throughout the hemisphere,” according to a DHS spokesperson.
The president and CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services, Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, said that families who had prior incentives under Title 42 to split up and leave their children behind now have more incentives to embark on the journey together.
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