Border patrol agents made over 50,000 arrests in May for the third consecutive month, the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday.
Agents arrested 6,405 underage migrants, some of whom already had parents in the United States.
Despite efforts by the Trump administration to deter illegal immigrants from entering the U.S., including separating migrant parents from their children and deploying National Guard troops along the border, arrests are the highest they’ve ever been since President Donald Trump took office.
“These numbers show that while the Trump administration is restoring the rule of law, it will take a sustained effort and continuous commitment of resources over many months to disrupt cartels, smugglers, and nefarious actors,” Homeland Security spokesman Tyler Houlton said in a statement to the Washington Post on Wednesday.
Migration has shifted from the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, to Arizona, where most illegal immigrants have been taken into custody. The majority are coming from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador in hopes of seeking asylum in the United States as they try to escape gang violence issues in their native countries. (RELATED: What’s Up With Immigration In Congress)
The Trump administration hopes to tighten up asylum rules by targeting transnational smugglers who help migrants fake asylum by exaggerating their circumstances. The president is calling for an $18 billion border wall plan to counteract illegal immigration, according to the Washington Post.
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