But arrests of unaccompanied kids and families fall sharply from 2014

Almost 10,000 immigrant children and families were caught crossing the border illegally in September, continuing an unseasonably high trend that has raised concerns of persistent migrant flows

from Central America.

Nevertheless, a year after an unprecedented surge of immigrants from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras overwhelmed immigration authorities in the Rio Grande Valley, apprehensions of

unaccompanied children and families in the last year have each plummeted by 42 percent, according to U.S. Border Patrol data.

The total number of apprehensions of unaccompanied children for fiscal year 2015 — from October 2014 through this September — was 39,970, compared with 68,541 in fiscal year 2014. Meanwhile,

apprehensions of parents with children dropped to 39,838 in 2015, compared with 68,445 in 2014.

And yet, Border Patrol caught 4,476 unaccompanied minors and 5,273 parents with children in September to end the fiscal year, more than double compared the same month last year.

There were also around 10,000 immigrant families and unaccompanied children detained in August, an increase of more than 50 percent over August 2014, a disturbing spike at a time when the

flow of migrants heading north usually fades.

“It seems increasingly clear that immigrants are adapting to the Mexican immigration enforcement measures,” said Marc R. Rosenblum, deputy director of the Migration Policy Institute’s U.S.

Immigration Policy Program.

“Immigrants are starting to arrive in the Western U.S. as they find ways to circumvent Mexican enforcement.”

Last summer, Mexico added checkpoints along busy migrant routes near its Southern border. Authorities also stopped people from riding atop northbound freight trains, commonly known as La Bestia,

or “the Beast,” while dramatically increasing deportations.

To manage the sudden influx of immigrants, the Obama administration opened family detention centers to house thousands of people while they wait for their deportation hearings.

However, a federal judge in California ruled in late July that the policy of detaining immigrant families violates a long-standing court agreement and ordered the speedy release of families.

Last week, Chris Cabrera, a Border Patrol agent in McAllen and vice president of the local Border Patrol union, told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that Obama’s

immigration policies encourage illegal immigration.

“Most believe that they will either not be caught, or even if they are caught, they will not be deported back to their home country,” Cabrera said during the committee hearing.

“What we have right now is essentially a catch-and-release policy.”

The Homeland Security Department has said it continues to monitor the uptick of immigrant children and families from Central America at the Southwest border, noting that economic hardship and violence

continue to push migration northward.

The U.S. government also is waging a $1.2 million international media campaign to caution Central Americans against risking their lives on the journey through Mexico, stressing that people who are caught

illegally entering the country will be a top priority for removal.

“We are aware that smugglers, or ‘coyotes,’ often use misinformation about current immigration policies and practices to lure individuals seeking to cross the border illegally to employ their services,”

Border Patrol said in a statement.


Despite downward trend, immigrant apprehensions rose last month - San Antonio Express-News