{"id":16875,"date":"2018-04-13T16:54:13","date_gmt":"2018-04-13T20:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/live-immigrationreform.pantheonsite.io\/?p=16875"},"modified":"2018-12-28T10:36:07","modified_gmt":"2018-12-28T15:36:07","slug":"denying-border-crisis-surest-path-completely-unsecured-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2018\/04\/13\/denying-border-crisis-surest-path-completely-unsecured-border\/","title":{"rendered":"Denying there is a border crisis is the surest path to a completely unsecured border"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his letter<\/a> this week to Defense Secretary James Mattis and Department of Homeland Security Secretary\u00a0Kirstjen Nielsen accepting federal dollars to deploy up to 400 National Guard troops to the border, California Gov. Jerry Brown could not resist a snarky addendum.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d take the money, but insisted that \u201cthere is no massive wave of migrants pouring into California,\u201d he said, adding that overall immigrant apprehensions \u201cwere as low as they’ve been in nearly 50 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

A group of Democratic House members made the similar (and familiar) argument in another letter to Mattis and Nielsen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe require a clearer explanation of the impetus for this approach at a time when border crossings are at a 40-year low,\u201d demanded the lawmakers in their April 11 letter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The \u201cthere is no crisis\u201d mantra is a convenient, yet grossly inaccurate and misleading talking point of those who feign commitment to border security without committing to implementing the policies to achieve secure borders.<\/p>\n

Are these the border crisis deniers wrong about an actual decline in the number of border apprehensions in California and nationwide? Yes.<\/p>\n

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection<\/a> (CBP), the number of apprehensions along at the border and other ports of entry declined after October 2016 when 66,712 illegal immigrants were stopped from entering the U.S. That decline continued after President Trump was elected, but then it began to increase in May 2017. Between May and December 2017, the number rose from 19,940 to 40,511.<\/p>\n

And the numbers are continuing to increase. According to data released this week, the Border Patrol apprehended 37,393 individuals in March \u2013 a 203 percent increase over March 2017, and a 37 percent increase from February (26,663).<\/p>\n

The 2014 crisis of thousands of Central Americans flooding our borders occurred precisely because the Obama administration failed to act with urgency and immediacy \u2013 which is the exact reason why the Trump administration wants to send National Guard troops to free up border agents to address the crisis.<\/p>\n

Numbers do not tell the full story that the Border Patrol lives every day. Along with a renewed surge of economic migrants entering illegally, there has been an uptick criminal activity along the border:<\/p>\n