Illegal immigration down 60% at border amid coronavirus
Illegal immigration is down nearly 60% at the southern border amid the coronavirus crisis, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday.
Officials reported arresting or encountering about 4,200 migrants who tried to enter illegally last week. That’s down from about 10,000 a week before the coronavirus upended things.
The Trump administration has implemented an unprecedented shutdown of the border. Commercial traffic is still getting through, but immigrants who are in the country illegally are being immediately returned, under an emergency policy from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That has cut the flow dramatically.
What hasn’t slowed is the pace of border wall construction.
New data from Customs and Border Protection shows 9 miles were completed between March 20 and April 3, even as much of the country was shutting down amid coronavirus fears.
Six of those new miles replaced old vehicle barriers erected during the Bush years, while one mile replaced outdated pedestrian fencing. The final 2 miles are new secondary fending, built in locations where no secondary fence existed.
Photo: Photo by: Eric GayIn this Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019, photo, Border Patrol agents stop two men thought to have entered the country illegally, near McAllen, Texas, along the U.S.-Mexico border. In the Rio Grande Valley, the southernmost point of Texas and historically the busiest section for border crossings, the U.S. Border Patrol is apprehending around 300 people daily, down from as many as 2,000 people a day in May. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Link: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/apr/6/illegal-immigration-down-60-border-amid-coronaviru/