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WASHINGTON — The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee held a hearing Thursday to examine the current migration crisis at the U.S. southern border, the policies and loopholes that encourage illegal immigration, and potential solutions. The witnesses addressed U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP’s) latest apprehension numbers and offered their perspectives on the current crisis compared to prior trends.
“There is a humanitarian and national security crisis at our southern border. In the first six months of this fiscal year, Border Patrol apprehended over 175,000 family unit aliens and over 33,000 unaccompanied children. According to Secretary Nielsen, we are on track to reach one million apprehensions by the end of the year, the first time since the fiscal year 2006,” said Sen. Johnson. “This crisis is not the fault of the dedicated, hardworking men and women of DHS; they have been given an impossible task. The fault rests with Congress alone. I challenge my colleagues to act. Unless you support this new reality of open borders, work with me now to address this crisis.”
Video from the hearing is available here.
