There has been a 50 percent jump in illegal immigrant gang members coming into the United States this year, according to the former Border Patrol chief.
What’s more, he warned in Senate testimony Thursday, loopholes in federal law will result in some 650,000 illegal immigrants — more than the population of Wyoming — being released into the United States, where most will “never to be heard from again.”
According to Mark Morgan, the chief of the U.S. Border Patrol from 2016-2017, the border situation is at a crisis point.
“I am extremely concerned about the growing risks to our nation’s public safety, national security, and rule of law, due to illegal and uncontrolled immigration. The crisis extends well beyond a single border — from Central America, through Mexico, to our southern border, and throughout every major metropolitan city in the United States,” he told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Worse, he said that the U.S. isn’t sure of the background of those coming to the country, and often loses them.
“It’s simple — they step one foot on American soil, say the magic words under ‘credible fear’ and within a few days they’re allowed into cities all across the U.S. What should sound additional alarms of concern is that most of the family members either lack proper identifying documentation or effective vetting of what they produce is impossible, so we know virtually nothing about who we’re letting in. Once in, they are typically never to be heard from again,” he said.
His grim testimony about the border crisis was endorsed by committee Chairman Sen. Ron Johnson, who blamed Congress and not the officials at the border.
“There is a humanitarian and national security crisis at our southern border. In the first six months of this fiscal year, Border Patrol apprehended over 175,000 family unit aliens and over 33,000 unaccompanied children. According to Secretary [of Homeland Security Kirstjen] Nielsen, we are on track to reach one million apprehensions by the end of the year, the first time since the fiscal year 2006,” said Johnson.
“This crisis is not the fault of the dedicated, hardworking men and women of DHS; they have been given an impossible task. The fault rests with Congress alone. I challenge my colleagues to act. Unless you support this new reality of open borders, work with me now to address this crisis,” he added.
Morgan highlighted the current rules that result in hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants, turned away years ago, gaining access to the U.S., where they hide from deportation agents.
First, he repeated concerns from the Department of Homeland Security that some 1 million immigrants are going to try to cross the U.S.-Mexico border this year.
“Currently 60%-65% of those illegally entering today are families or minors. We know because of our broken immigration laws and system, they will be released into the interior of the U.S. Therefore, as the apprehensions reach one million this year, the unconscionable result will be the release of 650,000 immigrants into the U.S. That is more than the entire population of Wyoming. Contrast that with the late 1990s, when we experienced 1 million apprehensions, yet we removed the overwhelming majority of those who crossed,” Morgan testified.
He also noted the surge in criminal gang members. He said:
