Border Patrol Chief on migrant crisis: We're seeing 'increase after increase,' no signs of slowing
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A U.S. Border Patrol official said Friday that authorities are seeing "increase after increase" when it comes to the number of large groups of migrants seeking asylum.
The head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) declared Wednesday a "full-blown emergency" at the southern border, as the number of apprehensions surged last month to levels not seen in more than a decade.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported nearly 133,000 arrests in May. The number surpassed 144,000 when counting migrants deemed inadmissible -- more than a 30 percent increase from the prior month and double the influx recorded at the beginning of the year.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}MEXICO OFFICIALS PREPARE TO INTERCEPT ABOUT 1,000 MIGRANTS
Speaking on "Fox & Friends," chief of the Border Patrol's law enforcement operations directorate Brian Hastings said the influx shows no signs of slowing down.
"Unfortunately we're breaking everything that we track as far as breaking records, the amount of apprehensions, large groups, the amount in custody. It just continues to rise with no sign of slowing," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TRUMP SAYS MEXICO IS AN ‘ABUSER’ OF THE US, AMID TARIFF NEGOTIATIONS
Hastings said the pace usually slows at this time of year, but instead it's picking up, with more than 600,000 apprehensions this fiscal year.
"Those numbers are just astronomical," he said, calling on Congress to fix the TVPRA, a law which he argued is motivating migrants to show up with children in tow.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Sadly you guys have to deal with it on the front lines while these people give each other pay raises in Congress," Brian Kilmeade responded.
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The number of apprehensions in May was the highest monthly total in more than 13 years. The latest figures could embolden President Trump amid tense negotiations with Mexico over the immigration crisis.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Last week, in an effort to force Mexico to do more to “stop the invasion” of migrants into the U.S., the president vowed to impose a new 5 percent tariff on all Mexican imports. The tariffs, set to go into effect on June 10 absent an agreement, would increase over time, reaching 25 percent by Oct. 1.