Tag: southern border

by Jason Hopkins   Border Patrol officials relocated the majority of children held at a government facility following reports that more than 300 children being housed were subjected to unsanitary and “inhumane” conditions. Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas said Monday that 30 children remained in the border facility near El Paso, Texas, The Associated Press reported. The massive relocation came after an AP report on June 20 gave lurid details of the conditions migrant children were living in. The Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas, contained children who were reportedly hungry, had not showered in days and were left to take care of young infants, according to attorneys who visited the station. Many of the children had been living in the facility for weeks — despite that they are required to be taken into Health and Human Services’ custody within 72 hours. Fifteen children had the flu, and 10 were being held in medical quarantine. “How is it possible that you both were unaware of the inhumane conditions for children, especially tender-age children at the Clint Station?” Escobar asked in a June 21 letter delivered to Customs and Border Protection acting commissioner John Sanders and U.S. Border Patrol chief…

by Jason Hopkins   Border Patrol is reporting “a dramatic rise” in the number of African migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in recent days. Border Patrol agents have apprehended over 500 individuals from the continent of Africa in the Del Rio Sector since May 30, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The migrants — most of them family units from Congo, Angola and Cameroon — are increasingly found trying to cross the Rio Grande River, exacerbating an immigration crisis primarily driven by Central Americans. “The introduction of this new population places additional burdens on processing stations, to include language and cultural differences,” Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul L. Ortiz said in a CBP press statement Wednesday. “Our agents continue to meet each new challenge as the ongoing humanitarian crisis evolves.” Agents at the Del Rio Sector, a stretch of border between Texas and Mexico, apprehended their first large group of African migrants on May 30, nabbing 116 Africans crossing the Rio Grande together. A group of migrants is considered “large” if it’s made up of 100 or more persons. U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to Del Rio Sector apprehended a large group of 116 individuals—from…

by Jason Hopkins   Thousands of foreign nationals are waiting south of the U.S.-Mexico border to claim asylum. The backlog is a direct result of the Trump administration’s efforts to clamp down on burgeoning asylum claims. Approximately 13,000 people are on waiting lists to claim asylum in the U.S., an Associated Press investigation found. The AP determined the amount after traveling to eight Mexican cities dotted along the border. Tijuana, the city with the longest line, had 4,800 people on the waitlist. Ciudad Juarez and Nogales were two other cities with major lines, with 4,500 and 1,000 people, respectively, waiting to get into the U.S. The backlog is a consequence of the U.S. government controlling how many people can claim asylum a day, a process known as “metering.” Each day at ports of entry, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers communicate with their Mexican counterparts, telling them how many immigrants are allowed to cross the border. Officials who handle the massive wait lists then direct the chosen individuals to cross the border to make their asylum claims. The metering process — which has sparked intense ire from progressive and Democratic circles — has allowed the U.S. government to somewhat manage…