100k Migrants from 50 Countries Apprehended at US Southern Border in March
103,000 migrants for 50 different countries caught crossing border in one month
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Over 103,000 migrants from 50 different countries were arrested or denied entry at the US-Mexico border in March, according to new data from US Customs and Border Protection.
The number shows a huge 35 percent increase over the previous month and more than double as many as the same period last year.
Roughly 92,000 migrants of the total 103k were apprehended between ports of entry.
The remaining 11,000 appeared at ports of entry claiming asylum, where they were refused after being deemed "inadmissible."
Following the release of the new data on Tuesday, CBP's Chief of Law Enforcement Operations Brian Hastings told reporters: "We've arrived at the breaking point."
"The current situation is unsustainable for border control operations," he added.
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According to the Daily Mail, Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Patrol Agent Rodolfo Karisch spoke at a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing the same day and said a caravan-size influx of migrants comes through his sector each week.
"Much media attention has focused on caravans coming across from Central America," Karisch said.
"But the fact is that RGV is receiving caravan-equivalent numbers every seven days."
The official said his sector has apprehended people from 50 different countries, including China, Bangladesh, Turkey, Egypt, and Romania.
The steady increase in migrant arrivals, which has been building over the past several months, is driven by a growing number of children and families, especially from Central America.
Children and people traveling as families made up 67 percent of those arrested by Border Patrol agents between official ports of entry last month, officials said.
In March 2018, the same category made up one-third of arrests.
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President Donald Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with the rising number of Central American migrants attempting to cross the southern border, and his ire has been directed at his own officials, Congress, and Latin American countries, who he says have not done enough to stop their citizens from traveling to the United States.
....Mexico must apprehend all illegals and not let them make the long march up to the United States, or we will have no other choice than to Close the Border and/or institute Tariffs. Our Country is FULL!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 8, 2019
On Sunday, Trump's top homeland security official, Kirstjen Nielsen, said she was stepping down, and a senior administration official said other agency leaders had not done enough to crack down on the surge in immigration.
Immigration experts believe more migrants are likely to attempt to cross in the coming months, as numbers typically peak around May.
