Posted at 5:21 pm on March 4, 2019
The Washington Post reports the number of migrants detained after entering the United States along the southern border was up sharply in February, possibly setting the stage this spring for the highest number of migrants seen crossing the border in a decade:
A group of 64 parents and children had waded through a shallow bend in the Rio Grande to turn themselves in to the agent on the U.S. side…
Groups like this arrived again and again in February, one of the coldest and busiest months along the southern border in years. U.S. authorities detained more than 70,000 migrants last month, according to preliminary figures, up from 58,000 in January. The majority were Central American parents with children who arrived, again, in unprecedented numbers…
“The numbers are staggering, and we’re incredibly worried that we will see another huge increase in March,” said a Homeland Security official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the unpublished figures.
Last year, the number of migrants crossing the border jumped 39% in March over February as the weather warmed and seasonal workers began joining the flow of economic migrants. If there is a similar jump this year it would mean more than 100,000 migrants detained this month (March) alone. That would be nearly 20% of the total number detained for all of FY18. Even at the present rate, we’re talking about more than 2,000 people a day. That works out to roughly two migrant caravans (approx. 7,000) per week.
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