The crisis at the border is putting U.S. security “at grave risk” because the U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been forced to divert 40% of its officers to holding facilities to care and process illegal crossers, according to an government group.
The report from the Homeland Security Advisory Council said that the crisis has forced Border Patrol to take 6,643 of its 16,688 officers off “the line” and to help with the surge of tens of thousands of illegal immigrants.
“On any given day, CBP is at half strength or less ‘on the line’ in places at the border, endangering themselves and the country,” said the report titled, Final Emergency Interim Report CBP Families and Children Care Panel and presented to the Homeland Security Department.
“One of the highest priorities must be to immediately relieve CBP of all tasks unrelated to its law enforcement mission. The security of our country is at grave risk until then,” said the report, adding:
“Because 40% of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Border Patrol’s (USBP) resources are currently absorbed in dealing with this crisis, the USBP is not able to effectively manage its other border security missions — apprehending migrants illegally seeking to evade detection, including criminal aliens and those who pose a public safety or national security threat, uncovering instances of trafficking, fraudulent family relationships and other criminal activity among this population, and monitoring the border for drug smuggling and other contraband.”
The report said that border facilities are overwhelmed, and were never built to handle such high numbers. Some 144,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended last month alone and 1 million are expected to be seized this year, about half of those who will attempt to cross the border.
The report has been ignored by the media and Congress, but immigration groups have picked it up and are touting its recommendations calling for quick congressional action to amend laws that are acting as “pull factors” for Latin Americans. Former immigration Judge Andrew R. Arthur, a resident fellow in law and policy for the Center for Immigration Studies, steered Secrets to the report.
One of those laws could have played a role in the deaths of Óscar Alberto Martínez Ramírez of El Salvador and his daughter who tried to cross the Rio Grande. The photo of the two face down in the river prompted Democrats to blame President Trump for their deaths, claiming that his decision to limit asylum claims at official border crossings forced the two to try an illegal crossing.
But the report said that only Congress can change the rule that guarantees illegal immigrants can make an asylum claim if they cross illegally. What’s more, it recommended that Congress make the change so that lure of illegal crossings resulting in an asylum claim will evaporate. Some estimate that only half of those seeking to enter the United States come through legal ports of entry.
It explained that under the asylum rules, illegal immigrants apprehended at ports of entry or anywhere else are released into the U.S. where they typically stay for two years awaiting a court hearing. And if they don’t like the outcome they can continue staying illegally.
Getting the initial asylum OK “means that these migrants are guaranteed several years of living (and in most cases working) in the U.S. Even if the asylum hearing and appeals ultimately go against the migrant, he or she still has the practical option of simply remaining in the U.S. illegally, where the odds of being caught and removed remain very low,” said the report.
The report praised border agents for trying to juggle both jobs.
“We commend the men and women of CBP, including the (Office of Field Operations) officers and USBP agents, for their unfaltering devotion to duty and professionalism during this crisis. There are countless examples of their valiant attempts to aid families and children who have entered our country illegally and still attempt to perform their law enforcement mission to protect our country,” it said.
