The migration crisis continues to persist in the US, with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealing last month that they had detained over 188,000 undocumented migrants along the country’s southern border with Mexico in June, the biggest monthly total since April 2000.
Chris Cabrera, vice president of the US National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), told Fox News on Saturday that NBPC agents have to release COVID-positive migrants into the US on a daily basis.
“Not everyone we encounter we test, only those that exhibit some type of symptoms and not everybody has symptoms that has it. And we’re releasing people out of the door day in and day out with actual positive tests for COVID and more keep popping up”, Cabrera said.
He added that his sector alone has already seen 20,000 apprehensions of migrants at the southern border, and that many NBPC agents have been quarantined or are sick with the virus.
“We have a lot of agents quarantined right now, which adds to our problem, on top of [the] agents who are sick with COVID, so we’re concerned about catching it ourselves, we’re concerned about our families and coworkers and it just seems everyone’s turning a blind eye to it when we have a real situation down here”, he pointed out.
The remarks follow the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announcing late last month that deportations for some migrant families who cross the US-Mexico border will be fast-tracked.
“Certain family units who are not able to be expelled under Title 42 will be placed in expedited removal proceedings. Expedited removal provides a lawful, more accelerated procedure to remove those family units who do not have a basis under US law to be in the United States”, DHS said in a statement.
The department stressed that trying “to cross into the United States between ports of entry, or circumventing inspection at ports of entry, is the wrong way to come to the United States”. The Department of Homeland Security warned that these “dangerous” acts “can carry long-term immigration consequences for individuals who attempt to do so”.
Illegal Migrant Border Crossings at Record High
The developments unfold as the number of illegal migrants crossing America’s southern border continues to increase, with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) saying last month that the figure had reached a new record high in June, when more than 188,000 asylums seekers were apprehended.
The issues along the nation’s southern border intensified after President Joe Biden began reversing the Trump administration’s hardline immigration policies, halting construction of a border wall, moving to end “harsh and extreme immigration enforcement”, and promising to “restore and expand” the asylum system.
Other steps included rescinding the Trump travel ban and pledging a “path to citizenship” for more than 11 million undocumented immigrants already living in the US.
