418000 apprehensions during first half of FY 2019 bests 2018s year-end total along Southwest Border
Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON D.C. According to projections by the United States Border Patrol the costs associated with massive influx of illegal immigrant families along the U.S. southern border is starting to skyrocket and it includes the cost of diapers meals as well as the cost of housing.
During the past six months Border Patrol Agents have apprehended more than 25000 immigrants traveling as part of family units in southwestern Arizona alone and they expect to spend four times as much on food baby products and on-site medical care in 2019 as it did last year officials say.
The Border Patrols Yuma Sector one of nine sectors along the nations southern border spent $300000 on diapers formula food and basic medical care for those in its custody during Fiscal Year 2018.
But as of March 31st this year the halfway point into Fiscal Year 2019 the sector has already spent more than $600000 on those same items and services. And it now expects to hit $1.2 million by September 30th according to Yuma Sector spokesman Justin Kallinger.
The Yuma sector has seen the third-most apprehensions of families this year after the Rio Grande Valley Sector in Southeast Texas and the El Paso Sector in West Texas. The Rio Grande Valley has already seen 78000 apprehensions of family members.
Kallinger said Border Patrol is releasing migrant families directly onto the streets or into the care of local organizations instead of turning them over to Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) because that agencys facilities are out of room to hold people that end up being released after 20 days.
As a result Yumas Mayor tweeted last week:
Migrants being released into the community faster than they are departing and shelters and the staff to run them are at max capacity. A state of emergency is declared.
And Yuma Arizona isnt alone in their resources being stretched thin more than 100000 illegal immigrants have recently been released in the U.S. because immigration and ICE facilities along the border are overflowing their capacity.
Customs & Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan announced earlier this month that 650 field officers were being deployed to the hardest-hit Border Patrol sectors but supplemental support does not address the other shortage: a lack of room in federal buildings.
With approximately 418000 already apprehended along the Southwest border during just the first six and a half months of Fiscal Year 2019 U.S. Border Patrol has already surpassed its total apprehension level of around 414000 for FY 2018.
And as more families enter the country illegally its costing the U.S. Border Patrol more than ever to take care of them.
In prior years most migrants at the southern border were single men from Mexico whose cases could be processed rapidly and they could be easily returned to their home country if they did not meet the standards for entry into the United States.
Today however Kallinger said its a different situation.
Migrants in 2019 have been predominately family units from Central America which take much longer to process and are more difficult to return to their home country when not directly bordering with the U.S.
These people are not from a contiguous country (Mexico or Canada) so we cant just take them back. Their cases have to be adjudicated.
At a certain point we cant just hold them in our facilities anymore" Kallinger said.
While the three Border Patrol Stations in the Yuma Region typically hold about 400 people they have been forced to house up to 500 in recent weeks as agents apprehend 100-to-200 people per day sometimes up to 350 and now lack space to hold them while undergoing processing and initial medical evaluation.
And as the migrant families wait to be processed young children and babies require food baby products and on-site medical care to ensure they stay healthy in U.S. custody.
Because of the massive and growing influx of immigrant families coming to the U.S. FY 2019 expenses are now projected to quadruple over 2018 expenditures.
