Border Surge UPDATE: States Brace for New Wave of Unaccompanied Children

State lawmakers say White House Congress not doing enough to address March April & May peaks Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas  Within the last month immigration analysts released new projections showing that close to 40000 unaccompanied children will try to cross into the U.S. southern border from Mexico this year. While down nearly 45 from 2014s peak of almost 69000 such a surge is expected to strain border personnel and potentially force Congress to return to the issue as it considers its budget. It could also trigger another political fight as the 2016 presidential contest heats up over the summer.    Officials along the southern border are bracing for another wave of child immigrants in the coming months. Administration officials who were caught off guard during last years surge say theyve taken lessons from the experience and are much better prepared this year. But border state lawmakers and child welfare advocates while pleased with the lower projections are also concerned that policymakers both in the White House and on Capitol Hill arent doing nearly enough to address the issue.

Were doing a lot better but we still need to be doing more" says Rep. Henry Cuellar a Texas Democrat from a border district. When you drill down to actual numbers youre still talking about thousands of kids. … Its almost as if theyre trying to downplay it the administration."

Kevin Appleby director of migration policy at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was also critical of the Obama Administrations commitment.

One year does not a difference make" Appleby said. Its going to have to be a long-term commitment."

He said the lower projections largely reflect the White Houses effort to get Mexico and other Central American governments to block unaccompanied children before they reach the U.S. border. Thats to the detriment of children who might be eligible for U.S. asylum but are instead returned to dangerous conditions back home.

The fact that the numbers are lower is not because the administration has had an effective PR campaign or conditions in those countries have improved. Weve exported the enforcement" Appleby said Friday. Theyre pulling kids off the trains; theyre stopping them at the Mexico-Guatemala border. … So theres still a violation of international law there."

Gil Kerlikowske head of U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) said the agency is in much better shape today" than it was just a year ago particularly when it comes to shifting children out of overcrowded facilities and into larger detention centers with medical care. Still Wendy Young president of Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) lamented the backlogged court system dearth of legal counsel and expedited hearings process that treat kids basically like suspected terrorists." We dont believe that every child has to stay in the United States" Young said Friday. But we do believe that every child should have a right to tell their story." Cuellar who won a victory this year by attaching language to a DHS funding bill reimbursing border communities for their efforts managing the crisis also says the court structure is grossly under-resourced. Hes pushing a proposal this year to add 55 new immigration judges many of them appeals judges to expedite the process. What are we going to do with all the pending cases we have?" he asked. An April 2015 report from the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute projected that the apprehension of child migrants will reach roughly 39000 this fiscal year down about 40 from last years peak of almost 69000 but still among the highest tallies on record. Marc Rosenblum deputy director of the Migration Policy Institutes U.S. Immigration Policy program and author of the report said a major reason numbers have fallen is that Mexico has ramped up deportations of children at its southern border. Along with other Central American countries Mexico also has launched public education campaigns discouraging illegal immigration. Rosenblum said the increased enforcement has sent the message that immigrants are likely to face consequences for trying to illegally enter the U.S. With all immigration social networks are very important" Rosenblum said. There was some momentum that built last year and people realized that this was a successful model. That momentum has turned in the other direction." Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Marsha Catron suggested the improvements are largely the result of the unprecedented manpower and resources" accompanying the agencys response to last years crisis including a surge of border security agents the construction of new detention facilities and a focus on battling the smugglers who encouraged the migrants with promises of asylum in the United States.

We responded with decisive action and the situation has improved significantly" she said adding that DHS continues to review and update our plans and procedures to ensure we are as prepared as possible for any potential scenario."

The months of March April and May are historically the peak time for border crossings due to the spring weather. Still even if the flow of child migrants returns to the 2013 rate an historic high at the time it might not lead to the full-blown crisis of last year. The House delayed its August recess to pass legislation providing a supplemental $694 million for border agencies to deal with last years surge. Meanwhile the Senate was never able to pass its $2.7 billion measure. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson ultimately shifted about $406 million from other agency programs to provide resources for the border. By the time lawmakers returned from the five-week summer break fewer child migrants were crossing the border largely due to intense summer heat and the issue was placed on the congressional back-burner. President Obama is hoping to tackle the problem with $1 billion in aid to Guatemala Honduras and El Salvador where a bulk of the child migrants have originated. The funding is intended to fight the crime corruption and poverty thats helped encourage the flight.