Border at ‘Breaking Point’ as More than 76,000 Migrants Cross in a Month

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03/05/2019 16:34

Subject: Border at ‘Breaking Point’ as More than 76,000 Migrants Cross in a Month

quote

Anonymous

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/05/us/border-crossing-increase.html

Even the NYT admits that the U.S./Mexico border is in crisis due to the overwhelming number of immigrants trying to gain entrance.

"For the fourth time in five months, the number of migrant families crossing the southwest border has broken records, border enforcement authorities said Tuesday, warning that government facilities are full and agents are overwhelmed.
More than 76,000 migrants crossed the border without authorization in February, more than double the levels from the same period last year and approaching the largest numbers seen in any February in the last 12 years.
“The system is well beyond capacity, and remains at the breaking point,” Kevin K. McAleenan, commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, told reporters in announcing the new data.
“These solutions are temporary and this situation is not sustainable,” Mr. McAleenan said. “This is clearly both a border security and a humanitarian crisis.”
Beginning for the first time in October, members of families have come to outpace apprehensions of individual adult migrants. Mr. McAleenan said the authorities believe this is a result of smugglers having effectively communicated across Central America that adults who travel with children will be allowed to enter and stay in the United States.
“Crossing with a child is a guarantee of a speedy release and an indefinite release into the United States,” Mr. McAleenan said.
Brian Hastings, the agency’s chief of law enforcement operations, said that since April 2018, border agents had detected nearly 2,400 cases in which migrants had falsely claimed to be related when they were not, or untruthfully claimed to be younger than 18.
The larger numbers and the surge into more remote areas of the border have drawn new attention to longstanding problems with medical services provided by Customs and Border Protection. Migrant families, in particular, tend to arrive in urgent need of medical attention, the agency said, which has strained resources and drawn agents away from their law enforcement duties.
Last year, the agency referred 12,000 border crossers to emergency rooms for care, each one requiring an agent to wait with them at the hospital and ensure they were immediately returned to federal custody upon release. The rates of hospital referrals are increasing, the agency said, with about 145 agents per day currently acting as hospital escorts. Meanwhile, cocaine seizures for the current fiscal year have already exceeded the previous one, and methamphetamine seizures have also increased, according to the agency, a situation that also is demanding staff resources.

I find it unbelievable, to say the least, that the U.S. is supposed to pay for all of the medical attention these people need. Many of them arrive at the border extremely sick, and then our Border Patrol is blamed when they die in custody - as if we were responsible for them getting sick in the first place. Why isn't Mexico stopping these people and treating them rather than allowing them to continue to our border?