Press Release - The Crisis at the Southern Border Is Too Urgent to Ignore

FLOOD OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION: Our porous border and weak laws allow for illegal immigration to go unchecked.

• Newly released data shows that December was a record-breaking month for family unit aliens apprehended at the border.
  • 27,518 family unit aliens were apprehended illegally crossing the border last month.
  • So far in fiscal year (FY) 2019, there have been more family unit apprehensions through December—75,794—than the FY totals in 5 of the last 7 years.
• For the last three months, an average of 2,000 inadmissible migrants have arrived at our border every day.
• A monthly average of more than 31,000 family units and unaccompanied minors are being apprehended at the border or deemed inadmissible at ports of entry in FY 2019.
  • This marks a 136 percent increase from FY 2017.
• There has been a sharp increase in the number of aliens claiming a fear of return at the southern border over the past several years.
  • This allows illegal aliens to remain in the United States while their claims are processed.
  • These instances have spiked by over 1,700 percent since 2010.
• This flood of migrants to our border has overwhelmed our immigration system.
  • There are currently not enough resources to hold those apprehended for the duration of their immigration proceedings.
  • Loopholes in our immigration laws hamper authorities from promptly sending family units and unaccompanied minors back to their home countries.
  • Immigration courts are severely backlogged—with over 800,000 cases pending.

GANGS AND DRUGS DESTROYING COMMUNITIES: Criminal gangs exploit our weak border in order to deliver violence and drugs to American communities.

• Gangs like MS-13 use our weak borders to gain entry into the country and target unaccompanied minors for recruitment.

• 300 Americans die every week from heroin and 90 percent of all heroin originates from south of the border.
• The amount of fentanyl seized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in FY 2017 (2,370 pounds) was enough to kill every American citizen by overdose.
• The southern border is the main entry point for cocaine entering the United States.
• The border is also used to smuggle firearms, weaponry, and other dangerous materials into the United States.

WOMEN AND CHILDREN AT RISK: Human traffickers exploit our border and immigration system for profit, putting women and children at risk.

• Human traffickers use our porous border and loopholes in our immigration system for their own gain, while preying on those who make the dangerous journey north.
• More than 30 percent of women are sexually assaulted on the trek to the border.
• Nearly 70 percent of migrants are victims of violence on the journey.
• Border Patrol refers an average of 50 cases a day to medical providers.