Illegal Border Crossings Today:

DHS Secretary Declares Border Situation A “Near System-Wide Meltdown”

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By Jennifer G. Hickey | March 21, 2019

In her annual State of the Homeland Security Address on March 18, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen M. Nielsen made the case that ‘the situation along the southern border has gone from a crisis…to a national emergency…to a near system-wide meltdown.”

She responded to open borders advocates and the media who contend illegal immigration along the border is a “manufactured” crisis saying it is “a real-life humanitarian and security catastrophe.”

“And today I can tell you that we are on track to interdict nearly 100,000 migrants this month. The situation at our Southern Border has gone from a crisis…to a national emergency…to a near system-wide meltdown.”

The numbers certainly support the secretary’s contention.

According to CBP data, between 50,000 and 60,000 migrants a month were being apprehended in 2018 – which is less than the 75,000 who were apprehended last month. Nielsen noted that the makeup of the migrant surge is making the border situation even more precarious.

And it will get worse. Nielsen said DHS is on track to interdict nearly 100,000 migrants this month. The DHS lacks adequate facilities to house the massive numbers of illegal aliens, so a decision has been made by the Trump administration to refrain from sending some migrant families who illegally crossed the border in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley to jail, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

“Over 60 percent of the current flow is now families and unaccompanied children, and 60 percent is non-Mexican. Our system was not built to handle this type of flow,” she said.

The Secretary also acknowledged the reality that the released illegals likely will simply disappear into the interior.

Due to a mix of outdated laws, misguided court decisions, and a massive backlog of cases, Border Patrol is forced to release these groups into the United States and “we have virtually no hope of removing them in the future, despite the fact that the vast majority who apply for asylum do not qualify for it.”