The surge of illegal immigrants across the nation’s southwest border is expected to result in nearly 1 million arrests this year, twice the number in 2018 and nearly four times that in 2017, according to an analysis of new Customs and Border Protection numbers.
The report said that 931,000 illegal immigrants are expected to be apprehended, and an additional tens of thousands blocked from entering the U.S.
Those are in addition to the migrants that successfully sneak into the country.
Steven Kopits, president of Princeton Policy Advisors and an immigration analyst, said that the numbers would be the highest since 2006.
However, he added, the 109,144 detained on the border in April were less than feared and may suggest a turning point in the immigration crisis.
“We had predicted that April and May could be exceptionally bad months, and in April this proved true, but not nearly to the extent we anticipated,” he said. “The data shows a clear inflection point, suggesting that the surge of growth may be peaking,” added Kopits.
