Illegal border crossings are at historic lows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is a statistic cited so often that it almost has\nbecome part of the common vernacular. The sun sets. The only certainties are\ndeath and taxes. And illegal border crossings are at historic lows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was an argument used last month in a statement issued<\/a> by 58 former national security officials in response to President Trump\u2019s declaration of a national emergency along the border. Because crossings are low, they asserted a factual basis for the declaration does not exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The problem for them and for the nation is that a\nbasis does exist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In a March 4 briefing<\/a>, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CPB) officials reported that a total of 76,325 apprehensions were made in February. That figure constitutes a 31 percent increase over January, and included 40,325 family units and 7,249 unaccompanied minors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And both the January and February statistics mark the\nhighest number of illegal border crossings in decades. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne of misconceptions is that illegal border crossings are at the lowest level in decades. That simply is not true,\u201d says Washington Post reporter Nick Miroff in a new podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Miroff, who traveled to the southern border to talk\nwith border officials, added that agents are fearful that if historic summer\nsurges occur, there could be as many as 100,000 apprehensions per month. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you (again) listen to the pro-amnesty advocates,\nthey claim the surges are a consequence of rising violence and turmoil in\nCentral America, primarily Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Best not to listen. As the Center for Immigration Studies\u2019 Matthew Sussis notes<\/a>, in both Honduras and Guatemala, the murder rate has decreased while the number of migrants has increased. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, why are the migrants continuing to come if violence\nis not worsening? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Miroff suggests the precipitating event for the recent\nsurge was the backlash over the Trump administration\u2019s so-called zero tolerance\npolicy. He says the controversy and manufactured hysteria created by the\ndetention of children forced the administration to back away from the policy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In turn, smuggling networks in Central America were\nable to seize upon the policy change to broadcast a message to potential\nmigrants that they would not be detained, particularly if a child was brought\nto the border with an adult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt became a golden smugglers\u2019 pitch that they have used to recruit clients [by]telling parents and migrants they will not detained,\u201d Miroff<\/a> said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, smugglers have been able to use the\ncontroversy to lower their risk since migrants now are encouraged to surrender\nto border agents and start the asylum process. The \u201cadministrative path\u201d into\nthe U.S. which has \u201cbecome the single biggest trend\u201d at the border, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is a crisis at the border but activists and\namnesty proponents are too busy living in the past (and past statistics) to see\nthe future crisis just around the corner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Illegal border crossings are at historic lows. That is a statistic cited so often that it almost has become part of the common vernacular. The sun sets. The only certainties are death and taxes. And illegal border crossings are at historic lows. It was an argument used last month in a statement issued by 58<\/p>\n