10,000 Illegal Immigrants To Arrive Daily At US Border, Warns Mexican President
Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),
Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has warned that the United States will soon see about 10,000 illegal immigrants per day arrive at its border with Mexico.
Such a large number of illegal immigrants are reaching Mexico’s northern border with the United States partly due to abount 6,000 illegal immigrants crossing from Guatemala into Mexico every day for the past week, President Obrador said on Oct. 2, according to The Associated Press. The Mexican president criticized U.S. sanctions on nations such as Cuba and Venezuela, two nationalities that make up a significant portion of the illegal immigrant flow.
On Sept. 29, President Obrador called on the United States to “remove blockades and stop harassing independent and free countries.” There should be “an integrated plan for cooperation so the Venezuelans, Cubans, Nicaraguans, Ecuadorans, Guatemalans, and Hondurans wouldn’t be forced to emigrate,” he said.
He also criticized the United States' use of funds to support Ukraine in its war against Russia and argued that some of the money sent to Ukraine should be spent on economic development in Latin America.
The Mexican president's comments come as the country has done little to prevent migrants from getting onto trains headed to the U.S. border.
Moreover, Mexico currently runs a government program that sends buses for migrants in the southern region, transporting thousands of these people to its northern border with the United States.
In the city of Juchitán in Oaxaca state, Mexico, some migrants told Reuters that they were planning on entering the United States using the U.S. government’s CBP One app and then requesting asylum.
CBP One was launched in 2020. In January this year, the Biden administration announced new legal pathways for asylum seekers and other illegal immigrants through the app. Illegal immigrants can now schedule appointments at ports of entry or manned entry points at America’s border with Mexico through CBP One.
According to data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), there were 232,972 encounters with illegal immigrants at the southwest land border in August, up from 183,494 in July.
Overall, 2.2 million illegal immigrant encounters have been recorded for fiscal year 2023 until August, on pace to meet or exceed the 2.37 million encounters in fiscal year 2022. In the 2021 fiscal year, the number of encounters was lower at 1.73 million. And in fiscal year 2020, there were only 458,088 encounters.
Illegal Influx Into America
The influx of illegal immigrants has alarmed officials in U.S. border communities. Late last month, the Democrat Mayor of El Paso, Texas, said that the illegal aliens were straining the region’s resources.
“The city of El Paso only has so many resources, and we have come to ... a breaking point right now,” El Paso Mayor Oscar Leeser said during a news conference, according to Reuters. More than 2,000 people were seeking asylum every day in El Paso.
In a Sept. 21 post on X, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott denounced the Biden administration for the migrant crisis facing the United States.
“I officially declared an invasion at our border because of Biden's policies. We deployed the Texas National Guard, DPS [and] local law enforcement. We are building a border wall, razor wire [and] marine barriers. We are also repelling migrants,” he said.
In a recent interview with MSNBC, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) claimed that the government isn't deporting enough illegal immigrants who are entering the country and pushed for adopting a stronger stance on the issue against countries such as Mexico.
“Let’s say we get 10,000 people a day, we’re deporting about 1,000 a day. So, you can see the numbers don’t add up there,” he said. “You’ve got to have repercussions at the border, you’ve got to have the other countries, Mexico and the other countries, do more.
“This is very important, 2015, 2019, [illegal immigrant] numbers went down; why? Under Obama and under Trump, why? Because we were able to get the Mexicans to do a lot more and stop them at the southern border with Guatemala. And that’s what history shows. Play defense on their 20-yard line and have real repercussions, and I mean deport people. Otherwise, they’re going to keep coming to the [United States].”
It’s not just at the Mexican border that the United States is facing an influx of illegal immigrants. The situation is getting worse at the northern border with Canada as well.
In the northeastern Swanton Sector, illegal immigrant apprehensions this year alone have exceeded the total of the past decade.
“Over 6,100 apprehensions from 76 different countries in just 11 months, surpassing the last 10 years combined,” Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said in a Sept. 6 post on X.
“Swanton Sector Agents are resolute and determined to hold the line across our 295 miles of border in northeastern New York, Vermont, [and] New Hampshire.”
In fiscal year 2022, Swanton Sector saw 1,000 apprehensions, up from 365 in fiscal year 2021.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
