South Texas immigrant arrest numbers already surpass last year’s total

By Associated PressUpdated: Thursday, May 29, 2014, 10:42 pmPublished: Thursday, May 29, 2014, 9:02 pm

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The U.S. Border Patrol has made more immigrant arrests in the Rio Grande Valley in less than eight months than it did in all of the previous 12.

The agency confirmed Thursday that agents in the busiest sector on the Southwest border had made nearly 160,000 arrests since the Oct. 1 start of the fiscal year. That surpasses the more than 154,000 it made last year. Internal documents obtained by The Associated Press show that last year’s total was beaten last week.

The arrests represent a dramatic shift in traffic from Arizona to Texas in the past two years. Most of the immigrants arrested in southernmost Texas come from Central America.

The Border Patrol’s commander for South Texas operations is scheduled to address the agency’s enforcement efforts Friday in Laredo.

http://kxan.com/2014/05/29/south-tex...t-years-total/