It is also the highest single month total since Trump was elected in November 2016.
March 5, 2019, 1:37 PM CST
By Julia Ainsley
WASHINGTON — The number of undocumented immigrants crossing the southern border last month was the highest total for February in 12 years, according to statistics released by Customs and Border Protection on Tuesday.In 28 days, and in the same month President Donald Trump declared a national emergency in order to build a border wall, 76,103 immigrants without the needed documentation to enter the U.S. either presented themselves at legal ports of entry or
were apprehended by Border Patrol between ports of entry.
It is the highest total for February since 2007, DHS officials said at a press conference Tuesday. It is also the highest single month total since Trump was elected in November 2016. Crossings hit 66,842 in October 2016, just before Trump's election.Still, February did not set an overall record for border traffic. Before 2008, monthly border crossings were consistently over 100,000, and were higher than 200,000 per month in 2000.
Children traveling unaccompanied as well as families with children made up 65 percent of the crossings in February, up from 61 in January, which CBP officials told reporters is a result of smugglers knowing that children have an easier chance getting through the U.S. immigration system. The majority of children and families are turning themselves over to U.S. authorities to claim asylum. McAleenan said there was a 120 percent increase in immigrants claiming asylum between fiscal year 2017 and 2018. And so far in fiscal year 2019, which began Oct. 1, there has been a 90 percent increase compared to the previous year.
Border processing facilities were not equipped for children or medical needs of such a vulnerable population, McAleenan said. CBP will add a center in El Paso, Texas, to process families and children. But, he said, it is only a temporary solution until Congress changes immigration laws. "The system is well beyond capacity and remains at the breaking point," McAleenan said.
Enough is enough.