The Department of Homeland Security released statistics Monday confirming what immigration experts have been saying for years: illegal immigration is on the rise.
The Obama administration’s data shows that 408,870 illegal immigrants were apprehended trying to enter the country at the southern border during FY 2016 — up from 331,333 in FY 2015 — but Senator Jeff Sessions argues that’s “only half the story.”
Jeff Sessions speaks on the second day of the Republican National Convention on July 19, 2016 in Cleveland, Ohio (Getty Images)
“The 408,870 does not include those illegal aliens who evaded detection and successfully entered the United States,” the Alabama Republican said in a statement on Tuesday. “Earlier this year, Brandon Judd, the President of the National Border Patrol Council, testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration and The National Interest that for every one illegal alien who is apprehended, another evades arrest.”
“This statistic reportedly has been confirmed by DHS, but the Obama Administration refuses to release that information. Using that rate as a baseline, that means approximately 408,870 illegal aliens evaded detection, for a grand total of roughly 817,740 illegal entries into the United States last year.”
Sessions also raised fears over the estimated 80 percent of illegal immigrants caught by the Obama administration that are allowed to stay in the country.
“Although those numbers will not be known for some time, the simple fact is that tens, if not hundreds, of thousands, of those apprehended are still in the country.” he explained. “Indeed, Brandon Judd also testified at that same hearing that approximately 80 percent of the aliens that the Border Patrol actually apprehends are released and not immediately deported.”
“The Obama Administration’s open-border policies have made our country less secure than we were eight years ago, eviscerated any semblance of credibility in our immigration system, and have created an ever-growing financial burden on U.S. taxpayers,” Sessions stated in closing. “The country cannot sustain this course.”
“The Obama Administration and the special interests may not believe in secure borders, but the American people do.”