Immigration

[Wild Bill]

They're not special citizens entitled to unique treatment.

Apologies for any lack of clarity.

I don't think anyone who is here illegally should get special treatment over those who have entered legally and are pursuing citizenship - and certainly not over Americans. We have clear guidelines on the path to citizenship as well as criteria for deportation.

The two types of workers that could be covered by visa changes or improvements in the efficiency of processing employers requests are agricultural workers and high level STEM workers. For the most part, those employers cannot find Americans either willing or qualified. The Border and Immigration Act of 2013 addressed both with visa changes. Easing that pathway for temporary employment may cut into total illegal immigration as a byproduct. Irish#1 pointed out that the vetting slows the processing down.

Some farmers are offering more than minimum wage and benefits including health insurance to attract agricultural workers, but can't find Americans and still cannot enough foreign workers.

I've no doubt that in this economic environment of low unemployment and high job openings with increased job growth, we are in the situation where employers hiring American workers will or already have to pay more with better benefits to Americans but also to imagine if just even half of those illegals, for example, were deported or left, who would fill those jobs? That should not imply that illegals should get any special treatment, but that changes in the visa system may help. Job training or further education for Americans is another way.

We've lived for a long time with large corporations/companies expecting to get tax breaks from government for relocating or staying in areas, which you may or may not consider the efficiency of the free market or in government's role in facilitating economic growth.

I meant the business owners/corporations aren't special citizens entitled to special treatment from our Congress to fill their labor needs. I have no zero interest in facilitating economic growth for business and corporations at the expense of the American worker.

In essence, what these businesses want is to artificially increase the labor supply which works to increase labor competition and reduces the value of labor. Would they agree to the same? Maybe Congress should start luring foreign businesses in by giving them special benefits. It'll increase competition for market share and increase the supply of whatever they produce, which will ultimately drive down prices for consumers at the expense of their net profits. We'll justify it by repeatedly telling them we're facilitating economic growth. Somehow I doubt they'd be in favor of a pro growth policy if it means their own asses will be left with less.

 

[Legacy]

Day 4 of our national emergency. The caravan/horde is being dispersed at Piedras Negras, Mexico which is across the Rio Grande from Eagle Pass, Texas.

As Piedras Negras facility prepares to close, fate of hundreds of migrants remains unclear
A makeshift immigrant shelter on the Texas-Mexico border will close this week as hundreds of Central Americans housed there believed they were going to get to ask for asylum in the U.S. Now it's unclear if they'll get that chance. (Feb 18, Texas Tribune)

PIEDRAS NEGRAS, Mexico — They're the lucky ones — the hundreds of migrants who have moved out of the makeshift shelter in this town across the U.S.-Mexico border from Eagle Pass. But as Olvin Hernandez stood behind a fence that walled him off from the rest of the city, he realized he might face a different path.

Hernandez, 21, is among the hundreds whose fate remained unknown Monday after more than 1,000 Central American asylum-seekers have been allowed to leave a former factory that’s been a temporary facility for the group since they arrived earlier this month. The facility, guarded by Mexican security forces, is scheduled to close this week after temporarily housing an estimated 1,600 Central America migrants who had hoped to seek asylum in the United States.

As armed state and federal police in riot gear stood watch, Hernandez said he was lied to.

“They said they were going to help us get to the bridge. That’s what [the Mexican officials] told us in Saltillo,” he said, referring to the capital of the Mexican state of Coahuila where he and hundreds of others boarded buses earlier this month. “They brought us here and from here we’re trapped. They didn’t explain why they denied [my visa]. They just did.”

Hernandez fears he could be deported back to Nicaragua if he's not granted a visa. Some migrants have been given a yearlong, renewable visa that allows them to work and move freely through Mexico. Others have been given a temporary permit which they said is valid for up to 30 days but doesn't allow them to work. Migrants said those temporary permits were issued mainly to allow for more time to process their visa applications. Only a handful, about 12 a day, have been allowed to seek asylum in the United States, the Associated Press reported Saturday....

What we know about the migrant caravan waiting at the Texas-Mexico border
The roughly 1,600 migrants, who are mostly Honduran, are being housed in a former warehouse in Piedras Negras — and being guarded by Mexican law enforcement — while they wait to be let into the U.S. But processing is slow. (Feb 8, Texas Tribune)

For the sixth straight day since arriving at the Texas-Mexico border, roughly 1,600 Central American migrants intent on seeking asylum in the U.S. are playing a frustrating waiting game in Mexico.

The migrants, who are mostly Honduran, are being housed in a former warehouse in Piedras Negras — and being guarded by Mexican law enforcement — while they wait to be let into the U.S.

But U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers are only able to process about 20 of the migrants a day, CNN reported, meaning progress is exceedingly slow and tensions are high. Only a limited number of the migrants who have been given humanitarian visas by the Mexican government can leave the makeshift shelter; some others have asked to be returned to their home countries, the AP reported.

The Texas Department of Public Safety has joined the U.S. Border Patrol in stationing agents in Eagle Pass, Texas — on the banks of the north side of the Rio Grande. They're meant to deter any migrants who might choose to cross the river instead of waiting their turn in Mexico.

“As part of our border security plan we keep DPS on the border with boats & planes. They work with local & federal authorities to enforce the law,” Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted alongside a picture of the law enforcement buildup.

State Rep. Poncho Nevárez, D-Eagle Pass, said the agencies’ show of force so far has had the desired effect: to promote order and prevent a large number of migrants from crossing the river.

Nevárez, who chairs the Texas House Committee on Homeland Security, was in Eagle Pass on Friday for a briefing that also included U.S. Border Patrol, the Texas Department of Homeland Security and local officials. He said he expected parts of the migrant caravan to splinter off and try to cross the river if U.S. authorities continue processing applicants at the current pace.

“The longer you stay over there, you become prey,” Nevárez said, referring to the omnipresent criminal gangs that go after migrants in Mexican border towns. “That desperation will lead them to not wait to see if they are one of the 10 or 15 or 20 that cross a day.”...

A wall is better? "Mexico will pay for the wall."

16 States Sue Over Trump's National Emergency Declaration (NPR)

 

[Irish YJ]

Had a conversation with a young dem sheeple this week on the topic of immigration. Very smart (book) person, who went to a Stacey Abrams town hall or some kind of rally that spent a lot of time on immigration. Some of the stuff they are pushing is mind boggling.

This person contended that:
1) Illegals only wanted a safe place to live, and were following international refuge law
2) Economics had zero to do with Central American or Mexican illegals
3) Dems strongholds offered them a safe place
4) MS13 was a made up fear
5) and bonus, Repubs were responsible for most of American violence

The person went pretty much mute when relayed that:
1) International law states that refugees should go to the closest county
2) Nicaragua's murder rate (7.37) is less than almost all of the top 20 "dem strongholds" illegals tended to settle in here in the US, and is either right next door (to their country of origin) or a few hundred miles away (unlike roughly 3000 miles to the US).
3) The 10 cities with the highest murder rates in the US all voted overwhelmingly Dem, and were 4 to 10 times the national murder rate in the US, and all much higher than Nicaragua.
4) I also shared a tid bits about MS13. And timing was great with the ones that MX just deported which were part of the caravan.... , which even they have contended there are likely more.

I then asked them if they would drag their child 3000 miles, or 200, if they truly wanted to escape violence. They said they needed to research my claims as it didn't match up to what they had "heard".


25 MS-13 gang members deported from migrant caravan in Mexico, officials say
https://www.foxnews.com/world/25-ms-13-gang-members-deported-from-caravan-in-mexico-officials-say

Murder rates per 100,000 inhabitants

World Average - 6.2 (for every 100,000 inhabitants)
US - 5.35 (91st World Rank)

El Salvador - 82.84 (1st)
Honduras - 56.52 (2nd)
Guatemala - 27.26 (16th)
Mexico - 19.26 (21st)
Nicaragua - 7.37 (74th)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_crime_rate

Murder rates in the US (all highly "Blue" areas)
1. St Louis - 66.07
2. Baltimore - 62.29
3. Detroit - 39.80
4. New Orleans - 39.50
5. Baton Rouge - 38.26
6. Kansas City - 30.93
7. Cleveland - 27.77
8. Memphis - 27.73
9. Newark - 27.14
10. Chicago - 24.13

Areas/Cities with the most dense illegal populations.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/09/us-metro-areas-unauthorized-immigrants/

 

[Legacy]

Murder rates per 100,000 inhabitants

World Average - 6.2 (for every 100,000 inhabitants)
US - 5.35 (91st World Rank)

El Salvador - 82.84 (1st)
Honduras - 56.52 (2nd)
Guatemala - 27.26 (16th)
Mexico - 19.26 (21st)
Nicaragua - 7.37 (74th)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_crime_rate

Murder rates in the US (all highly "Blue" areas)
1. St Louis - 66.07
2. Baltimore - 62.29
3. Detroit - 39.80
4. New Orleans - 39.50
5. Baton Rouge - 38.26
6. Kansas City - 30.93
7. Cleveland - 27.77
8. Memphis - 27.73
9. Newark - 27.14
10. Chicago - 24.13

Areas/Cities with the most dense illegal populations.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/09/us-metro-areas-unauthorized-immigrants/

I don't see a correlation between the cities with highest murder rates and those with most dense populations of illegals. One (Chicago) of the top ten murder rate cities appear on the highest density list, although Newark is included among the NYC/Newark/NJ area. Statistically, that would seem to argue that the more illegal immigrants you have the safer you are in terms of murders - but that needs further analysis.

U.S. unauthorized immigrant population estimates by state, 2016 (Pew)

 

[Irish YJ]

I don't see a correlation between the cities with highest murder rates and those with most dense populations of illegals. One (Chicago) of the top ten murder rate cities appear on the highest density list, although Newark is included among the NYC/Newark/NJ area. Statistically, that would seem to argue that the more illegal immigrants you have the safer you are in terms of murders - but that needs further analysis.

U.S. unauthorized immigrant population estimates by state, 2016 (Pew)

I did not make a correlation that illegal immigrants caused violence. That is what you chose to see/read. I simply stated that areas that illegals were settling in, had higher murder rates than a neighboring country (Nicaragua), which combats the claim that "refugees" are only trying to escape violence. They are choosing areas that are more violent than a neighboring country because of the economic advantages, and likely because they are less likely to be deported (because they are dem areas).

Suggest you look at the link (murder rates per cites) and match to those areas. Most have higher than the national average.

While I'm not linking immigrants to violence in this post.....Not sure how you can make a jump that Newark is
a) densely populated by illegals +
b) one of most violent cities in the US
= c) the more illegals means the safer an area is.

That's some very bad logic.

What is very simple to gather from this data, is

1) heavy dem voting areas are much more violent than republican voting areas, and

2) illegals are not trying to escape violence, they are looking to improve their economic situation and are ignoring international law. and even when they get here, they prioritize economic opportunity over less violent areas.

3) in the caravans reported, 25 or 1.6% were verified MS13 by the MX gov. Another 70 or 4.4% were deported because of various crimes in their backgrounds. 10 of the MS13 were only identified because of scuffles they created. So in short, at least 6% were bad enough that the MX government found to be too scary, and that's with their very weak attempts at identifying and checking backgrounds.

And if 6% were bold enough to go to a port of entry, imagine what % comes over in areas where we should have a wall.

 

[Legacy]

=Irish YJ;2088867]I did not make a correlation that illegal immigrants caused violence. That is what you chose to see/read. I simply stated that areas that illegals were settling in, had higher murder rates than a neighboring country (Nicaragua), which combats the claim that "refugees" are only trying to escape violence. They are choosing areas that are more violent than a neighboring country because of the economic advantages, and likely because they are less likely to be deported (because they are dem areas).

Just refocusing and reframing a discussion. You seem to frequently talk about yourself, how dems are illogical and present weak arguments which you destroy, and end with a Fox News article. Nicaragua has the least amount of Latin immigrants/refugees to the U.S. (7%) way behind the other three Central American countries. They are fleeing political violence by their government not drug lords and cartels like the other three and do head to the nearest country, Costa Rica. I wondered why you picked them to generalize with comparison to murder rates in the U.S.

2) Nicaragua's murder rate (7.37) is less than almost all of the top 20 "dem strongholds" illegals tended to settle in here in the US, and is either right next door (to their country of origin) or a few hundred miles away (unlike roughly 3000 miles to the US).
3) The 10 cities with the highest murder rates in the US all voted overwhelmingly Dem, and were 4 to 10 times the national murder rate in the US, and all much higher than Nicaragua.

Suggest you look at the link (murder rates per cites) and match to those areas. Most have higher than the national average.

I did.

While I'm not linking immigrants to violence in this post.....Not sure how you can make a jump that Newark is
a) densely populated by illegals +
b) one of most violent cities in the US
= c) the more illegals means the safer an area is.

That's some very bad logic.

I pointed out that Newark is lumped in with the metropolitan area including NYC and other nearby NJ cities. I linked unauthorized immigrants, not immigrants as a whole. Did you know that the top eight murder rate cities have 10% or less Hispanics? But you picked Newark to generalize, which is along the lines of picking Nicaragua among Central American countries. Yeah, I have very bad logic.

What is very simple to gather from this data, is

1) heavy dem voting areas are much more violent than republican voting areas, and

2) illegals are not trying to escape violence, they are looking to improve their economic situation and are ignoring international law. and even when they get here, they prioritize economic opportunity over less violent areas.

The nearest countries to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduran citizens are Panama and Nicaragua (discussed) and Mexico where they are not wanted and attacked by gangs/cartels.

3) in the caravans reported, 25 or 1.6% were verified MS13 by the MX gov. Another 70 or 4.4% were deported because of various crimes in their backgrounds. 10 of the MS13 were only identified because of scuffles they created. So in short, at least 6% were bad enough that the MX government found to be too scary, and that's with their very weak attempts at identifying and checking backgrounds.

Fox News? How many Middle Easterns were traveling with the caravan? Mexico has been deporting them or offering temporary visas for those willing to work there. The stats you cite 94% have no criminal history but the 6% criminals deported means there must be many more?

And if 6% were bold enough to go to a port of entry, imagine what % comes over in areas where we should have a wall.

Whether we need the wall Trump wants is a point of discussion with the majority of Americans disagreeing. How are you defining Dems and "highly blue" areas? Of your top ten U.S. cities and their murder rates, you include Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Memphis, St.Louis, and KC that are "Dem" strongholds?

I simply stated that areas that illegals were settling in, had higher murder rates than a neighboring country (Nicaragua), which combats the claim that "refugees" are only trying to escape violence.

As I noted, the top eight cities with the highest murder rates have no correlation to the cities with the highest number of illegal immigrants. Has Fox reported that?

 

[Irish YJ]

Just refocusing and reframing a discussion. You seem to frequently talk about yourself, how dems are illogical and present weak arguments which you destroy, and end with a Fox News article. Nicaragua has the least amount of Latin immigrants/refugees to the U.S. (7%) way behind the other three Central American countries. They are fleeing political violence by their government not drug lords and cartels like the other three and do head to the nearest country, Costa Rica. I wondered why you picked them to generalize with comparison to murder rates in the U.S.

Refocusing/reframing to fit your narrative, and ignoring fact and data.....

The initial point of my post was that illegals using the refugee claim is BS because 1) there are closer countries they could go to, and 2) they are settling in areas with higher murder rates than those closer countries.

Nicaragua's ruling political party are democratic socialists (another dem-socialist failure). Do you know why the violent protests started? Because Ortega tried to reform social security/pensions (which he dropped after the protests). And nobody said Nicaragua refugees were coming to the US? And yes there are protest and a few hundred have died (including cops), but it's still one of the least violent countries in the CA and SA regions.

I did.
I pointed out that Newark is lumped in with the metropolitan area including NYC and other nearby NJ cities. I linked unauthorized immigrants, not immigrants as a whole. Did you know that the top eight murder rate cities have 10% or less Hispanics? But you picked Newark to generalize, which is along the lines of picking Nicaragua among Central American countries. Yeah, I have very bad logic.

NY/Newark/Jersey City Metro - 1st in #of illegals., Newark is 9th in murder rate (27.14), much higher than Nicaragua and several other countries in CA that are much closer than the US, not to mention much closer than all the way to NY/NJ metro.

LA/Long Beach/Anaheim Metro- 2nd in # of illegals. LA is a push, but surrounding areas like San Bernadino (15.65 murder rate) which are included, which are 60% Latino are way above the rate of closer countries.

Houston Metro - 3rd in # of illegals, also a higher murder rate at 11.5

Dallas/FW/Arl Metro - 4th in # of illegals, also a higher murder rate at 12.48

Miami Metro - 5th in # of illegals, also higher at 11.23

Chicago Metro - 6th in # of illegals, also higher at 24.13

I can go on, but you get the drift. Illegals are travelling much, much farther to settle in more violent areas than if they would take a much shorter trip to Nicaragua, Panama, or Costa Rica. In short, they are looking for economics more than true refuge.

The nearest countries to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduran citizens are Panama and Nicaragua (discussed) and Mexico where they are not wanted and attacked by gangs/cartels.

See above.... but I'll also add that they are willing to drag their children through Mexico, risk rape, etc. when they could travel far shorter distances to obtain safety.

Fox News? How many Middle Easterns were traveling with the caravan? Mexico has been deporting them or offering temporary visas for those willing to work there. The stats you cite 94% have no criminal history but the 6% criminals deported means there must be many more?

Who said anything about MEers? And who cares if it's FOX? They are reporting simple fact and data provided by MX authorities.

The stats I quoted is 6% that were sent back. That does not mean 94% have no criminal background. MX is not background checking every illegal coming though. They are only checking (and their checks are probably less thorough than US) those who want to stay. 10 of the 25 MS13 were only found because they caused a scuffle. Had they been quiet, they would have slipped on through....

Whether we need the wall Trump wants is a point of discussion with the majority of Americans disagreeing.

1. Polls are funny things. Nobody thought Trump had a chance to win. The polls were all wrong. Trump ran on a platform that included the wall.

2. Polls also shift in the wind. ABC and WAPO reported in January of this year that support for the wall was at an all time high. Then it dropped over the budget standoff. You think it won't shift again?

3. Obama called the situation at the border a "crisis". If you look up crisis, "emergency" is listed as a synonym. So I guess it was OK for Obama to call it a crisis then, but not now?

How are you defining Dems and "highly blue" areas? Of your top ten U.S. cities and their murder rates, you include Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Memphis, St.Louis, and KC that are "Dem" strongholds?

"Highly Blue" = areas that vote overwhelmingly dem. Please see the link to the interactive map of voting in 2016. Baton Rouge, NO, Memphis, SL, and KC were all "Highly Blue".

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/upshot/election-2016-voting-precinct-maps.html

As I noted, the top eight cities with the highest murder rates have no correlation to the cities with the highest number of illegal immigrants. Has Fox reported that?

look back the OP. again, you're being creative by "reframing" the conversation. i noted that the individual I was talking to asserted that republicans were the cause of most violence. i pointed out that the top 10 cities in murder rates were all highly blue.

Again, Not the point on the top 10 US cities in murder rate...... But, Baltimore (which is top 8) is part of that DC/Arlington/Alexandria corridor (which is 7), and is one of the most violent stretches in the US. I've already listed the top 6 above and their correlating murder rates. Again, they are all higher than closer countries.

 

[Legacy]

Pentagon chief: Broader approach to border security needed (AP)

 

[Irish YJ]

Mark Morgan, a career FBI official who served as Border Patrol chief for the Obama administration, told FOX Business Opens a New Window. on Thursday that the U.S.-Mexico border is undeniably in a state of crisis.

“It’s absolutely a national emergency,” he said during an interview with Maria Bartiromo on “Mornings with Maria, Opens a New Window. ” referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements' (ICE) release of hundreds of migrants detained at the U.S.-Mexico border because of overcrowding at detention facilities.

“ICE doesn’t have any more room,” he said. “Now border patrol agents are having to release illegal aliens into ... the United States --- they’re overwhelmed.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...r-patrol-chief-trump-stay-course-border-wall/
https://www.foxbusiness.com/politic...border-crisis-absolutely-a-national-emergency

 

[Irish YJ]

CBP head says we are in a crisis, and El Paso sector is currently at a 12 year high in illegal crossing. Says 4-6000 is crisis level. They've had 13000 over the past 2 days. Said they are at a breaking point.

Any narrative that claims this isn't an emergency is simply a partisan claim of make believe.

https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/n...el-paso-border-crisis-immigration/3282390002/

 

[Bishop2b5]

Any narrative that claims this isn't an emergency is simply a partisan claim of make believe.

Oh stop. The Left and the MSM would never do that.

 

[Legacy]

The alarms have been going off for weeks.

Border at ‘Breaking Point’ as More Than 76,000 Unauthorized Migrants Cross in a Month
(NYT March 5, 2019) -- A good article.
More than 50,000 adults are currently in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, the highest number ever. In March 2019 alone, almost 40,000 children will come into CBP's custody.

At least 70 such groups of 100 or more people have turned themselves in at Border Patrol stations that typically are staffed by only a handful of agents, often hours away from civilization. By comparison, only 13 such groups arrived in the last fiscal year, and two in the year before.

Understanding what is happening on the border is difficult because, while the numbers are currently higher than they have been in several years, they are nowhere near the historic levels of migration seen across the southwest 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.

The difference is that the nature of immigration has changed, and the demographics of those arriving now are proving more taxing for border officials to accommodate. Most of those entering the country in earlier years were single men, most of them from Mexico, coming to look for work. If they were arrested, they could quickly be deported.

Now, the majority of border crossers are not single men but families — fathers from Honduras with adolescent boys they are pulling away from gang violence, mothers with toddlers from Guatemala whose farms have been lost to drought. While they may not have a good case to remain in the United States permanently, it is not so easy to speedily deport them if they arrive with children and claim protection under the asylum laws.

Families with children can be held in detention for no longer than 20 days, under a much-debated court ruling, and since there are a limited number of detention centers certified to hold families, the practical effect is that most families are released into the country to await their hearings in immigration court. The courts are so backlogged that it could take months or years for cases to be decided. Some people never show up for court at all.

Finally, detaining families even for the first few days after their arrival in the United States, while they are undergoing initial processing, is also a challenging job.

Often arriving exhausted, dehydrated, and some of them requiring urgent medical care, the families need food, diapers, infant formula and space to play. They can often spend days inside cramped concrete cells that were built to house the previous generation of border crossers — young, single men who would likely be there only a few hours.

Hundreds of agents will be pulled from ports of entry to help El Paso Border Patrol process undocumented immigrants

(Texas Tribune)

McAleenan told Congress in testimony earlier this month that the border was reaching a breaking point, and on Wednesday he said, “That breaking point has arrived this week at our border. And nowhere has that crisis manifested more acutely than here in El Paso.”

He said CBP agents who are normally tasked with processing legitimate trade and travel while detecting contraband will be reassigned from ports of entry in El Paso, Laredo, Tucson and San Diego. Laredo and El Paso have ranked as the country’s top two inland ports for years; about $229 billion and $77.4 billion in two-way trade passed through those respective customs districts in 2018.

“There will be impacts to traffic at the border, there will be a slowdown in the processing of trade, there will be wait times in our pedestrian and passenger vehicle lanes” at ports of entry, he said. “But this is required to help us manage this operational crisis.”

McAleenan also said the vast majority of the apprehended migrants will be released instead of being transferred to and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. That agency’s holding facilities are at capacity, and McAleenan said he is left with no choice but to let the migrants go with orders to appear before an immigration judge. Border Patrol agents will now be tasked with deciding whether a person should be released, he said.

“That is not something we want to do; it’s something we have to do given the overcrowding in our facilities,” he said, calling it “an unfortunate step” that hurts morale in the agency.

"National leaders: Border at breaking point, El Paso highlighted as site of humanitarian crisis"]National leaders: Border at breaking point, El Paso highlighted as site of humanitarian crisis
(El Paso Times, March 5, 2019)

“El Paso sector alone has seen a 434 percent increase in apprehensions this fiscal year,” McAleenan said. “The vast majority are family units and unaccompanied children coming in large groups which challenges their capacities and facilities. The facilities housing migrants in El Paso has reached capacity and gone over capacity several numerous times in this fiscal year in the first quarter.”

In order to address the overflow of migrants in El Paso, a new central processing center will be built in El Paso.

“To help address this, we are taking steps established a central processing center in the El Paso sector,” McAleenan said. “This will help us protect the health and safety of families and children in custody while streamlining operations and reducing the time we are holding families and children. The El Paso processing center will provide one location for the processing of families and children in an appropriate environment and facilitate medical assessment in one location.”

No other information including where the center will be built or how much it will cost has been released. The most recent border security deal contained $192 million for a new center.

McAleenan said the new processing center and medical policies are not a solution.

“I want to underscore a key point here,” McAleenan said. “While our enhanced medical efforts and new facilities will help with managing the increase flows and while we continue to do all that we can to address these increases in traffic safety and humanely, the fact is these solutions are temporary and the situation is not sustainable. The system is well beyond capacity and remains at a breaking point.”

“It should be clear from these numbers, that we are facing alarming trends in the rising volume of people illegally crossing our Southwest border and arriving at our ports of entry without documents,” McAleenan said. “This increased flow — currently at our highest level in over a decade — is both a border security and humanitarian crisis.”

The increase seen in recent months has been migrants from Central American countries — Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.

Hastings said it is a vast change from the past where agents mostly apprehended Mexican nationals.

Central American migrants now make up about 70 percent of all Border Patrol apprehensions.

“Historically, U.S. Border Patrol have arrested 70 to 90 percent Mexican nationals, where we could apply a consequence to that demographic — we could return them quickly to Mexico,” Hastings said. “Today, 70 percent of all those we are arresting are from the Northern Triangle — Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras.”

The long distance of those countries creates several difficulties for agents and officers including housing and returning the migrants to their home countries.

The number of family units or unaccompanied children make up about 60 percent of all apprehensions since October, Hastings said.

“Without a consequence (and) without being able to delivery a consequence to these individuals for illegal crossing our border, the Border Patrol has no reason to expect this trend will decrease,” Hastings said. “In fact, we believe it will increase. It is well-known at this time that adults with children will not be detained during the immigration proceedings for illegal entry. Word of mouth and through social media this quickly gets back to those in the Northern Triangle countries that if you bring a child you will be successful.”

Hastings said that between April 2018 to last month, there have been nearly 2,400 fraudulent claims of being part of a family unit.

With the overcrowding, CBP has no choice but to catch and release. The humanitarian organizations, including Catholic Charities, are overwhelmed, short on supplies and personnel, and without any place near the border to house them are bussing them to nearby cities. People are being generous and donating significantly. Funding from previous appropriations for fencing is being used to build 57 miles of fencing in Texas and 46 miles near a port of entry in New Mexico. They have closed all highway checkpoints in its El Paso sector, which stretches across 268 miles in Texas and New Mexico. Another caravan is on its way.

 

[Irish YJ]

With the overcrowding, CBP has no choice but to catch and release. The humanitarian organizations, including Catholic Charities, are overwhelmed, short on supplies and personnel, and without any place near the border to house them are bussing them to nearby cities. People are being generous and donating significantly. Funding from previous appropriations is being used to build 57 miles of fencing in Texas and 46 miles near a port of entry in New Mexico. The El Paso and NM ports of entry are being closed. Another caravan is on its way.

When catch and release is your only option, it's a crisis/emergency. You simply can't argue with a national emergency being declared. Catch and release is pretty much an open border... which is what dems want in the first place. And if catch and release is your only option, the best option is a wall to stop the flow in the first place.

 

[NorthDakota]

Good. I want all the charities and the government down there to get overrun. That might be the only thing that wakes people up to the invasion we are undergoing.

 

[Legacy]

Still amazed some may not have known this has been going on for the last month. Is your primary or exclusive news source Fox News? Have you seen the stories about the significant increase in violence and homicides in Tijuana? Or the Mexicans stealing the concertina wire which the Marines put up on the fences? You did know that the numbers of people crossing was worse in the Clinton and Obama admins? But Congress did nothing - and those Presidents did not declare emergencies or shutdown the government.

MSM and the border media just do a much better job covering these issues if you want to stay up to date. Call your Congressman and advocate for a comprehensive immigration bill which would require some compromise. Otherwise, there's just the same-old obstruction and finger-pointing for political gain.

 

[NorthDakota]

Still amazed some may not have known this has been going on for the last month. Is your primary or exclusive news source Fox News? Have you seen the stories about the significant increase in violence and homicides in Tijuana? Or the Mexicans stealing the concertina wire which the Marines put up on the fences? You did know that the numbers of people crossing was worse in the Clinton and Obama admins? But Congress did nothing - and those Presidents did not declare emergencies or shutdown the government.

MSM and the border media just do a much better job covering these issues if you want to stay up to date. Call your Congressman and advocate for a comprehensive immigration bill which would require some compromise. Otherwise, there's just the same-old obstruction and finger-pointing for political gain.

The lack of action taken in the past isnt sufficient to suggest action now is a bad idea.

If I have a leak in my house for years, and don't address it, is it wrong of me to address it now?

Pretty tough to compromise on this one. Dems been screaming for the past few years that Trump is a Nazi and a racist. Giving any ground to him and the GOP makes them complicit in evil.

 

[Irish YJ]

Still amazed some may not have known this has been going on for the last month. Is your primary or exclusive news source Fox News? Have you seen the stories about the significant increase in violence and homicides in Tijuana? Or the Mexicans stealing the concertina wire which the Marines put up on the fences? You did know that the numbers of people crossing was worse in the Clinton and Obama admins? But Congress did nothing - and those Presidents did not declare emergencies or shutdown the government.

MSM and the border media just do a much better job covering these issues if you want to stay up to date. Call your Congressman and advocate for a comprehensive immigration bill which would require some compromise. Otherwise, there's just the same-old obstruction and finger-pointing for political gain.

I watch all news sources daily, including MSNBC and CNN. Their coverage of the border crisis is pretty much limited to their outrage that illegals aren't being released into the US fast enough.

We've had big talking politicians that all claim to want to do something for the last 30 years. Some current dems were the biggest smack talkers. Now a president actually wants to do something, and it's wrong, because the wrong person is saying it.

Illegals slowed when Trump was elected because the believed he'd do something. When the libs made it their platform to stop everything Trump, the illegals took that as an open invitation. This is the product of that invitation.

 

[Bishop2b5]

Pretty tough to compromise on this one. Dems been screaming for the past few years that Trump is a Nazi and a racist. Giving any ground to him and the GOP makes them complicit in evil.

And there's the biggest problem in dealing with this (and several other) issues. They're infinitely more concerned with how any compromises, bills, actions, or anything else will play to their base and affect the next election than they are with doing what's right and what's best for the country.

 

[Legacy]

And there's the biggest problem in dealing with this (and several other) issues. They're infinitely more concerned with how any compromises, bills, actions, or anything else will play to their base and affect the next election than they are with doing what's right and what's best for the country.

That's how I see the Rep agendas played out. The Gang of Eight (included Rubio) came up with an immigration bill that passed overwhelmingly in the Senate addressing border security after years of hard work and compromise. The hard line immigration part of the Party would not vote for it in the House, blocking a vote. They teed it up for Ted Cruz in 2016, with Texas moving up their primary and Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio in their sights on immigration. Instead they got Donald Trump over Lyin' Ted. When compromises over border security with $5.7 Billion for his wall for protection of the Dreamers to end the shutdown, hard liners like Coulter said:
“Trump proposes amnesty. We voted for Trump and got Jeb!”

For the good of the country?

There was compromise legislation on health care that came out of Senate's HELP (Health, Education, Labor and Pensions) committee, but McConnell would not let it come to a vote. It would have stabilized the healthcare market. Lamar Alexander (R, Tenn), chairman of HELP, proposed it as an alternative that would pass on HC rather than the repeal and/or not replace ACA.

For the good of the country?

Both parties compromised on the Farm Bill, on the Defense and Appropriations Bills. Trump only wins in 2020 by securing the nomination, building up his war chest with donations from special interests, and being Trump with division and demeaning and demonizing the opposition while refusing to compromise.

For the good of the country?

And his budget proposes to Congress for 2020 to fund those defense programs that he robbed money from to pay for his emergency actions.

He has to propagate these fallacies, attack, blame everyone, and veto anything Congress comes up with, should he be reelected. If he doesn't compromise now and can spin it as wins, the Senate and the Presidency are up for grabs. Imagine what the Dems, in charge of all three, will pass. Or imagine where we will be on immigration and health care in 2024 if we continue with a divided Congress.

But he is the best President the U.S. has ever had - in his mind. The easiest way to manipulate him is to play to his ego positively - or negatively like Coulter, Miller etc has, lumping him in with the Bushes and moderates.

 

[Irishize]

So to be clear...

When Dems controlled congress in Clinton’s & Obama’s first 2 years, their excuse was the mean old Reps (who were in the minority) obstructed. But now when Trump is POTUS and Reps controlled congress in Trump’s first two years, it’s the mean old Reps fault?

How about let’s be fair and admit BOTH parties screw the pooch when they control congress + the WH?

How about let’s be consistent and admit that Clinton’s moral shortcomings are equally (if not more) inexcusable as Trump’s moral shortcomings?

Pandora’s Box was opened in 1992 & when Clinton was given a pass for alleged sexual assaults & rape b/c the victims are obviously liars...all bets are off. Be careful what you are complicit in supporting b/c sooner or later your political foe will bring similar baggage & expect the same “free pass”.

I’m proud to say I didn’t vote for Trump or Hillary. Those that are disgusted by Trump’s moral shortcomings had no problem supporting Bill & Hillary Clinton.

The irony is so thick that voters & the MSM can’t see it.

 

[Irish#1]

So to be clear...

When Dems controlled congress in Clinton’s & Obama’s first 2 years, their excuse was the mean old Reps (who were in the minority) obstructed. But now when Trump is POTUS and Reps controlled congress in Trump’s first two years, it’s the mean old Reps fault?

How about let’s be fair and admit BOTH parties screw the pooch when they control congress + the WH?

How about let’s be consistent and admit that Clinton’s moral shortcomings are equally (if not more) inexcusable as Trump’s moral shortcomings?

Pandora’s Box was opened in 1992 & when Clinton was given a pass for alleged sexual assaults & rape b/c the victims are obviously liars...all bets are off. Be careful what you are complicit in supporting b/c sooner or later your political foe will bring similar baggage & expect the same “free pass”.

I’m proud to say I didn’t vote for Trump or Hillary. Those that are disgusted by Trump’s moral shortcomings had no problem supporting Bill & Hillary Clinton.

The irony is so thick that voters & the MSM can’t see it.

I'm not condoning Clinton or DJT, but I look at having sex in the WH far worse then DJT banging a porn star while a private citizen.

 

[connor_in]

I'm not condoning Clinton or DJT, but I look at having sex in the WH far worse then DJT banging a porn star while a private citizen.

Show us on the doll where the president touched you

 

[Bishop2b5]

I'm not condoning Clinton or DJT, but I look at having sex in the WH far worse then DJT banging a porn star while a private citizen.

To me, the biggest issue with Clinton & Monica was the HUGE power difference. It's frowned on or even illegal, depending on the circumstances, for someone in a position of power to have sex with a subordinate or other person whom they have significant control or power over. There could hardly have been a bigger power difference than that between a POTUS and a young intern.

 

[Irish#1]

To me, the biggest issue with Clinton & Monica was the HUGE power difference. It's frowned on or even illegal, depending on the circumstances, for someone in a position of power to have sex with a subordinate or other person whom they have significant control or power over. There could hardly have been a bigger power difference than that between a POTUS and a young intern.

No better way to learn about the power of government than straight from the Prez.

 

[Irishize]

I'm not condoning Clinton or DJT, but I look at having sex in the WH far worse then DJT banging a porn star while a private citizen.

Agreed. Plus as Governor of Arkansas, he was accused of sexual assault & rape by mulitple women but b/c the shoe was on the other foot vs today, all those accusers were liars. #MeToo

 

[ACamp1900]

The cigar story blurred everything else out for me... I remember that much.

"What do you think of the POTUS behaving this way?"
lil AC: "What happened exactly?"
(reads transcript of the cigar incident)
"So, thoughts?"
lil AC "Wait,... you can like do that with a cigar?"
"This is serious son, the President may have lied under oath and lowed the entire office of the Presidency."
lil AC "So he like got her off with it, and then smoked it?"
"Son..."
lil AC "How'd it even stay intact?"
"That's not the point here-"
lil AC "That's so fucking pimp!"

 

[Irish#1]

Agreed. Plus as Governor of Arkansas, he was accused of sexual assault & rape by mulitple women but b/c the shoe was on the other foot vs today, all those accusers were liars. #MeToo

Not sure why they don't come out today. Look at Cosby and several others. Some of those incidents were before or around the time of Clinton and their accusers have come out. Maybe they were paid off? JFK was Clinton's role model. I wonder how long the line would be for him?

 

[connor_in]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The human coyotes helping migrants survive Central America's grueling Darien Gap jungle <a href="https://t.co/FOQV5y67CC">https://t.co/FOQV5y67CC</a> <a href="https://t.co/5bN5gUFIbL">pic.twitter.com/5bN5gUFIbL</a></p>— CBS News (@CBSNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1112147030648987653?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Thank God for those great humanitarians, the human trafficers known as coyotes

 

[NorthDakota]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The human coyotes helping migrants survive Central America's grueling Darien Gap jungle <a href="https://t.co/FOQV5y67CC">https://t.co/FOQV5y67CC</a> <a href="https://t.co/5bN5gUFIbL">pic.twitter.com/5bN5gUFIbL</a></p>— CBS News (@CBSNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/CBSNews/status/1112147030648987653?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 31, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Thank God for those great humanitarians, the human trafficers known as coyotes

Broke: Human Trafficking is bad

Woke: They are just trying to make a few bucks.

Bespoke: They are giving helpless refugees a shot at the American dream.

 

[Legacy]

As migrant surge continues, El Paso's safety net is feeling the strain
(Texas Tribune)
Federal agencies have re-directed agents to deal with a growing wave of migrants and the president is threatening to close the border. Meanwhile, local shelters face a daily dilemma: 500 to 600 new arrivals who need somewhere to go.

Eduardo Talamantes, a Navy veteran, helps set up cots at a migrant shelter at the Catholic Diocese of El Paso's main campus.

EL PASO – Eduardo Talamantes talks about his long-ago military service the same way he does his volunteer service at a migrant shelter today: He downplays the importance of both.

“I was below the water line,” he said of his four-year service in the U.S. Navy that began in 1969. “Here, they call me the ‘shower guy.’”

"Here" is the Catholic Diocese of El Paso’s main campus in El Paso’s lower valley, where on Tuesday the 69-year-old former refinery worker was a jack-of-all-trades at the shelter, which can house up to 100 people.

“There he is,” he told a group of reporters after finding a migrant who had wandered off. “Let me make sure he gets his ride.” Later, he spotted four migrants holding fresh clothes and towels and led them to the showers.

Talamentes might soft-pedal his role here, but shelter directors say he’s an important cog in wheel that has been spinning increasingly faster as the number of immigrant families crossing into this part of Texas to seek asylum continues to surge. Everyone involved in the system, from Border Patrol agents to customs officers to shelter workers, has been scrambling to cope with the mass of people arriving at the border.

Most of the migrants are Central American families and unaccompanied minors, and their numbers have grown by 340 percent — about 136,150 family units were apprehended on the southwest border between October and February, compared to 31,100 families during the same period the year before, according to CBP statistics.

And here in El Paso, the local Border Patrol sector saw its family unit apprehension numbers jump 1,698 percent over that same period. By last month, when U.S. Customs and Border Protection predicted it would hit a 12-year high with more than 100,000 apprehensions across the border, so many migrants were coming through El Paso that agents set up a military style tent surrounded by chain link under a freeway bridge to hold the overflow.

The surge has led CBP to redirect 750 agents from their positions at the ports of entry to help Border Patrol process the migrants, and it fed President Donald Trump's recent threats to close the southern border — a move that even members of Trump's own party have said would wreak havoc on the country’s economy.

On Tuesday Department of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen reportedly said the administration would treat the surge like a category five hurricane and tapped former U.S. Border Patrol sector chief Manny Padilla to coordinate the federal response to the crisis, according to a DHS news release.

“While only legislation can fix this crisis in the long term, we cannot wait for Congress to act,” she said in the release. “It is our duty to secure the homeland, enforce our immigration laws, and uphold our humanitarian obligations.”

It’s the humanitarian component of the situation that convinced Talamantes to volunteer at the shelter about three months ago. He describes himself as a patriot who's concerned about the country's direction and he said he’s growing more frustrated with “misinformation” about immigrants and why they are leaving their countries.

“There’s a lot of fear on their faces” when they arrive, Talamantes said. “We try to welcome them as much as possible. But my personal take is that I don’t see this stopping for quite some time. The situations [in those countries] are just so bad.”

The surge has had volunteers and shelter directors scrambling for weeks to ensure that migrants have a place to go once they are released from custody. Ruben Garcia, the director of the Annunciation House, which operates a network of migrant shelters across the city, said his organization has spent about $1 million in five months just on hotel space to make sure migrants don’t sleep on the streets. Garcia only needs the hotels when the roughly two dozen shelters are at capacity. The vast majority of migrants don't spend much time in El Paso before they leave for other destinations around the U.S.

But DHS announced a policy shift last week that could put more pressure on an already strained safety net: Instead of transferring migrants to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials for processing after they are apprehended, Border Patrol agents are now releasing many migrants directly to the shelters.

From March 27, when the policy change was announced, to Monday, Garcia said Border Patrol had directly released about 1,100 migrants in El Paso. That’s in addition to the 3,725 ICE released during the same time frame.

Garcia said the trend is worrisome because Border Patrol has little experience in helping release migrants in an orderly way and lacks the vehicles to take them to other cities when El Paso's shelters become full.

"And frankly ICE is very good at helping release people,” he said. “More importantly ICE seems to have a transportation network to be able to transport people out of El Paso.”

Garcia said on Monday that the shelters he works with are receiving an average of 500 to 600 migrants a day. So far, they have been able to manage the flow thanks to the network of volunteers he said, but “I have no way to predict what we can expect going forward.” he said.

Garcia's hopeful that a new shelter slated to come online soon will help. Garcia said the former warehouse, which will be part of the Annunciation House's network of shelters, will be able to house hundreds of migrants.

“It gives us a cushion to receive a higher number of refugees should there be a sudden spike in the number of individuals that are being released,” he said.

Meanwhile, Customs and Border Protection announced last month that a new government processing center for migrants is also in the works. That space isn’t scheduled to open for at least six months and could take as long as a year, U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, told reporters last week.

Dylan Corbett, the director of the Hope Border Institute, a local faith-based community organization, said El Paso leaders have been vocal in their opposition to closing the border or building border walls, but they’ve left the increasingly urgent task of housing migrants largely to the faith-based and non-profit communities.

“The most you hear is the mayor on TV basically kicking the can to Washington and saying, ‘The system is broken,” he said.

A city spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment on Corbett’s remarks. The El Paso City Council last week voted to allocate $20,000 to hire a coordinator who will work with the United Way to find more volunteers to help house the migrants. Garcia said the county voted to provide an additional $20,000, adding that he was grateful for their efforts.

As the surge continues, Talamantes said he’ll keep doing his part as long as he’s needed. And he thinks others will too. “People are good, they might slack off sometimes, but they’re good,” he said.

Oceana, a woman from Guatemala who asked that her last name not be used, said Tuesday she had been at the diocese's shelter for three days.

"We're very thankful" for the support, she said in Spanish as her two sons kicked a soccer ball outside one of the dormitories. "They've received us day after day and we have what we need."

Talamantes said that gratitude goes both ways.

“When the migrants thank me, I tell them I should be thanking you. Faith is a hard thing to wrap yourself around.”