For the second straight month, the flood of unaccompanied illegal minors has ebbed, but authorities wonder if the border invasion is over or just temporarily cooling because of the brutal summer desert heat.
A report from the Department of Homeland Security revealed that the number of illegal immigrant children dropped to fewer than 3,500 in August from more than 10,000 in June,
The Washington Times reports.
President Barack Obama recently said, "The good news is we've started to make some progress. The number of apprehensions in August are down from July, and they're actually lower than they were August of last year. Apprehensions in July were half of what they were in June. So we're seeing a significant downward trend in terms of these unaccompanied children."
However, border patrol agents told the Times that the slow-down in minors rushing the border is likely to be seasonal, and will pick up again as soon as cooler weather makes it easier and less dangerous to attempt to cross the desert.
In July,
agents stopped 5,400 children, down from 10,600 in June, and in August, only 3,129 children were apprehended, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which is a section of Homeland Security.
The majority of the children apprehended in fiscal year 2014 — or 17,975 — come from Honduras, followed by 16,528 from Guatemala, 15,800 from El Salvador, and 14,702 from Mexico.
Since the beginning of fiscal year 2014, 66,127 unaccompanied illegal alien children have been apprehended, an increase of 88 percent from the 35,209 caught crossing the border in fiscal year 2013. So far this year, over 63,000 families also have been apprehended.
To date, 375,000 cases are swamping the dockets of federal immigration courts,
WBTW-TV reports. While President Obama has asked Congress for an emergency $3.7 billion to deal with the crisis, it has not been approved.
The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) says that paying for the education of the 37,000 children who already have been released will cost state and local governments $761 million this year,
The Washington Examiner reports.
The majority of the cost will fall on New York, at $147.7 million; followed by Texas ($78 million); Maryland ($68 million); California ($64 million); New Jersey ($58 million); Florida ($57 million); Virginia ($54 million); Louisiana ($26 million); and Massachusetts ($25 million).
"Once again the costs of the federal government's failed immigration policies are borne at the local level,"
FAIR commented.
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