"Catch and release" was a lot more humane

Migrant children at the border – the facts

Here are the facts:

Is there a new policy that has caused families to be separated at the border?

Yes. 

On April 6, Attorney General Jeff Sessions ordered the implementation of a so-called "zero tolerance" policy for migrants caught crossing the border outside authorized entry points. 

That means a goal of prosecuting 100 percent of adults caught violating immigration law.

Previously, adults without criminal histories who crossed the border with children were not referred for prosecution. 

Instead, some were booked into immigrant family detention centers and others were referred for civil deportation proceedings and released — a practice derided Monday by Nielsen as the "the historic 'get out of jail free' practice of the previous administration."

And what the odious and cruel Duce sneeringly refers to as the "catch and release" policy, I think.

Administration officials point to the new policy as a way to block the gang MS-13 – do they have a point? 

Their argument is that gang members can exploit the loophole "zero tolerance" seeks to close, allowing families to stay together and be released from custody to enter the country. 

As an example, they point to the May 2 arrest of an MS-13 member caught entering with a baby. 

Customs and Border Protection statistics for fiscal year 2018 show that roughly 0.1 percent of people apprehended at the border (275 out of 256,857) have been linked to MS-13 by authorities. 

Between 2011 and 2017, about 0.02 percent of children detained (56 out of roughly 250,000) were connected to the gang, according to Senate testimony given by Secretary Nielsen in April.  

Officials say that people lie about their relationship to children they enter with. How prevalent is that tactic? 

The vast majority of apprehensions at the border do not include fraud. Between October 2017 and May 2018, 99.75 percent of family units apprehended by at the border were not linked to fraud (i.e. pretending to be a parent). 

A Customs and Border Protection official said Tuesday that out of 59,113 total family unit apprehensions during that period, there were 148 cases of alleged fraud. 

Where are the migrants coming from, and why?

Customs and Border Protection statistics show an influx of migrants from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, countries which the the United Nations Children's Fund reports have experienced sustained gang violence and political instability.

The total number of so-called family units, those who arrived together with at least one adult and at least one child, arriving from Guatemala jumped from 24,657 in fiscal year 2017 to 29,278 as of May 31, four months before the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept. 30. 

There were 22,366 family units from Honduras apprehended in fiscal year 2017, and 20,675 apprehended by May 31, putting that total on pace to surpass last year's as well.