The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) commissioner, Kevin McAleenan, said the number of new arrivals in March is expected to reach 100,000, including 55,000 family members.
. . . .
The exodus has only gained pace in recent months.
Last year, border apprehensions dropped to historic lows, but in February CBP announced more than 76,000 people were apprehended or sought asylum at the US southern border – the highest number in a decade.
. . . .
Authorities in US border towns have struggled to cope with the crush of families and unaccompanied minors.
Because of limits on how long children can be held in detention, most families are now being released to pursue their claims in immigration courts, a process that can take years.
Recall that the Duce angrily rejected his own party's urgent pleas that he hire many more immigration court officials.
He has made it abundantly clear he would rather not let any of these people in.
He has said he would rather hire people with guns to keep them out.
So although he did not make this crisis he really has no wish to solve it, since the only way to do that would be to hire a lot of people to facilitate giving all these folks the asylum they deserve.
And as for the "economic migrants" among them, well, let them in, too.
. . . .
And there is no sign that the mass exodus is likely to end soon.
Most of the current wave of migrants come from three small Central American countries – El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras – where migration is driven by a a toxic mix of violence, poverty, food insecurity, climate change, political instability and corruption.
Violence perpetrated by drug traffickers, street gangs and state security forces have made this region, known as the Northern Triangle, the most dangerous place in the world outside an official war zone.
Rabbi Salem Pierce, of the rabbinic human rights group, T’ruah, said that migrants on both sides of the border had “over and over and over again” described the dangers that had prompted them to flee Central America.
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Guatemala is the most unequal country in Central America with 59% of the population living in poverty without access to basic rights such as health, education, housing and justice, said Jorge Santos from Udefegua, an organisation which monitors attacks against activists, journalists and community leaders.
The country’s politicians meanwhile, have been mired in a string of corruption scandals.
. . . .
In November, Guatemalans overtook Mexicans as the largest nationality taken into CBP custody – an incredible figure considering that the population of Mexico is seven times larger than that of its southern neighbour.
In the fiscal year so far (October 2018 to February 2019), 12,576 unaccompanied Guatemalan children were apprehended at the southern border compared with a total of 13,726 from Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras.
Hondurans have also surpassed the number of Mexicans attempting to cross the border: in the first five months of the fiscal year, almost 52,000 Hondurans travelling in family groups were apprehended at the US border compared with 39,439 in the whole of 2018.
Migration from Honduras has accelerated amid a dire political, economic and security situation triggered by the 2009 coup which ushered in the pro-business and pro-military rightwing National party.
An upsurge in human rights violations including high profile cases like the murder of the indigenous leader Berta Cáceres triggered international condemnation but failed to stop the bloodshed or stem US aid.
Trump threatens to close US-Mexico border over reports immigration is at 'breaking point'
Donald Trump threatened on Friday to close the US border with Mexico next week, or at least large sections of the frontier, if Mexico “doesn’t immediately stop all illegal immigration coming into the United States” from the region, Reuters reported moments ago.
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