Q&A

When did the surge at the border start?

When did the surge at the border start?

This first emerged in 2014, when the Obama administration was scrambling to deal with an increase in unaccompanied minors at the border, pushed north as a result of violence in Central America. The surge was relatively small, but because it was mostly children, the government’s ability to handle the increase was quickly strained.

Where do most illegal crossings of the border take place?

According to the Department of Homeland Security, there is a long-term trend of fewer people being arrested or apprehended for allegedly crossing the border illegally. Most apprehensions happen along the southern border.

Is the number of people crossing the border falling?

The total number of people apprehended for illegally crossing the southern U.S. border has been steadily falling for almost two decades. It’s a long-term trend that sociologists, economists and federal officials have been tracking for years.

Where does most of the border apprehensions take place?

Most apprehensions happen along the southern border. (Years shown are fiscal years.) The trend apparently at odds with statements made this week by President Trump, the secretary of Homeland Security and the attorney general.

Where are people trying to cross the border?

Data also suggests people are trying to cross, illegally, more than once and in more remote and dangerous places. In Arizona, this year marked a grim milestone. The remains of 200 migrants were found in the desert borderland, the most in almost a decade.

How many people have been arrested for illegally crossing the border?

Arrests for illegally crossing the border reached up to 1.64 million in 2000, under President Clinton. In the 2018 fiscal year, they reached 396,579. For the first five months of the current fiscal year, 268,044 have been apprehended. Migrants from Central America turned themselves in to Border Patrol agents in Penitas]

The total number of people apprehended for illegally crossing the southern U.S. border has been steadily falling for almost two decades. It’s a long-term trend that sociologists, economists and federal officials have been tracking for years.

Are there more arrests at the southern border?

Arrests along the southern border have increased 97 percent since last year, the Border Patrol said, with a 434 percent increase in the El Paso sector, which covers the state of New Mexico and the two westernmost counties of Texas. Families, mainly from Central America, continue to arrive in ever-larger groups in remote parts of the southwest.