Trump: "Southern Border Is Under Seige"; 50,924 Caught/Turned Away Last Month

CNSNews
Susan Jones | May 4, 2018 | 7:43 AM EDT


(CNSNews.com) - "Our Southern Border is under siege," President Trump tweeted early Friday morning, one day after U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported that 50,924 people were apprehended or deemed inadmissible at the Southwest border in April.

That's only 628 more than the number of apprehended/inadmissibles recorded in March, but it's a whopping 223 percent increase from the unusually low 15,766 recorded in April 2017.

Of those 50,924 people who tried to cross the Southwest border last month, 38,234 were apprehended between ports of entry, meaning they were trying to enter illegally; and 12,690 were turned away at ports of entry.

In April, the number of Family Units (9,647) increased 8 percent from the 8,873 in March; and the number of unaccompanied children (4,314) increased 2 percent from last month's 4,153.

And press reports on Friday said more than 150 members of the so-called caravan from Central America have now been allowed into the United States to make their case for asylum.

Trump's Friday morning tweet concluded: "Congress must act now to change our weak and ineffective immigration laws. Must build a Wall. Mexico, which has a massive crime problem, is doing little to help!"

Geronimo Gutierrez, the Mexican ambassador to the United States, told Fox News's Laura Ingraham Thursday night, "I can understand why (Americans) get the perception that the Mexican government is not doing much, which is certainly not the case. First of all, I will give you the figure that over the last ten years, Mexico has repatriated around 1.1 million people."

Gutierrez said Mexico is working with the United States to make sure immigration is legal, safe and orderly. "And we do need to make sure that there are sufficient avenues for that.

“I think that if you look at the history of immigration in Mexico, you will see that a lot of the Mexicans that have come to the United States did so because they did not have an opportunity or very good opportunities in Mexico. And that's not the fault or the responsibility of the U.S. That's on us," the ambassador said.

"But the U.S. should also recognize that there is at the need for those people here. And, you know, Mexicans don't have a chip planted in them saying, go on break the law in the U.S."

Ingraham noted that most of the illegal immigration is not coming from Mexico these days; it's coming from Central America, through Mexico’s 800-mile-long southern border.

Just this week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that he is sending 35 additional prosecutors to the Southwest border to handle cases of illegal entry and smuggling. He's also asking 18 current supervisory immigration judges to adjudiate cases in immigration courts near the Southwest border.

"By deploying these additional resources to the Southwest border, the Justice Department and the Trump Administration take yet another step in protecting our nation, its borders, and its citizens," Sessions said. "It must be clear that there is no right to demand entry without justification.”

This follows President Trump's request to state governors last month to deploy two thousand National Guard troops to the border.



Thank You Ms Jones and CNS.