U.S. has hit 'breaking point' at southern border amid immigration surge, Customs and Border Protection commissioner says
The scene outside the Border Patrol station in El Paso on Monday, where U.S. officials say they are becoming overwhelmed in the face of a migration surge. In the El Paso region, Border Patrol stations are at 300 percent to 400 percent capacity, with the head of U.S. Customes and Border Protection saying that his agency is at “the breaking point.
McAleenan’s statements reflect the growing desperation among Homeland Security officials faced with a border influx that is on pace to be the largest in more than a decade, led by Guatemalan and Honduran asylum seekers who arrive with children and surrender to U.S. agents. McAleenan said his agency currently has 12,000 migrants in its custody.
He blamed the surge on smugglers and U.S. laws that he said encourage illegal migration because migrants are virtually guaranteed to be released in the United States.Thousands more Central Americans are waiting in Mexico, at shelters in Ciudad Juarez, and U.S. officials believe they likely will cross the river in coming days and weeks.
The most dangerous overcrowding is here in the El Paso area, where Border Patrol stations are at 300 percent to 400 percent capacity, leaving families in cramped, unsanitary holding cells with little or no access to hot food and showers.
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