The drama related to the arrival of the illegal immigrant caravan to the US border near San Diego continues unabated
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has just filed criminal charges on against 11 individuals believed to be part of a caravan from Central America seeking asylum in this country.
The DOJ said in a press release shared by ABC News that border patrol agents apprehended the individuals a few miles west of the designated border crossing in San Ysidro, Calif.“The United States will not stand by as our immigration laws are ignored and our nation’s safety is jeopardized,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement.The 11 individuals charged in the case are accused of knowingly and willingly entering the U.S. at a time and place other than one designated by immigration officers.
Meanwhile, organizers of that caravan coaching the migrants to seek asylum indicate 158 have formally been allowed to enter the country for processing.
All have crossed at the San Ysidro Port of Entry between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico, including the 70 who turned themselves in at 9 a.m. Thursday. They were the largest group to be accepted for processing so far, organizers said.There are around 70 members of the caravan still in Tijuana waiting to cross into the U.S. and claim asylum, Mensing said.U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Tuesday that he was rirecting 35 federal prosecutors and 18 immigration judges to the southwest U.S. border with Mexico to assist with the caravan and immigration issues there.
Hundreds of California National Guard troops are now in the San Diego area, supposedly for a new mission said to be part of President Trump’s focus on increased safety at the U.S.-Mexico border.
…For the last week, around 400 volunteer soldiers from different units and ranks trained at Camp Roberts in Monterey.[California National Guard Sgt. Brianna] Occhino could not get into details about troop movements and training, but she did say the note clearly stated that the Guardsmen will not be dealing with any immigration-related arrests or the building of a border wall.“We will not be touching that. We are not authorized to do those kinds of activities,” she said.Instead, they will work in a supportive role to the Border Patrol, focusing on patrolling gangs, human trafficking, and drug and weapons smuggling.“Guarding people, or entry control points, or exit control points,” she explained.
It is now being reported that illegal immigration along U.S.-Mexico border surged 230 percent in April compared to last year, which experts blame on major loopholes in American immigration law.
Chief among the loopholes is the de facto “catch-and-release” policy that sees most illegal immigrants caught at the border quickly put back out on the streets, with the hope that they’ll return to be deported later.Perhaps 75 percent of all migrants caught by Border Patrol agents are given catch and release, said Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, which represents line agents. Knowing they’ll be released rather than quickly deported has served as an enticement for more illegal immigrants to make the journey, he said.
The loopholes are strangling sensible, secure, and critically needed border control. Until Congress rescinds these detrimental rules, the battle over border policy will continues, with San Diego now on the front lines.
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