Immigration

Border Agents In Texas Say Crossings Surge: “They Keep Coming And Coming”

By News & Guts
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MCALLEN, TX - JUNE 12: A U.S. Border Patrol vehicle illuminates a group of Central American asylum seekers before taking them into custody near the U.S.-Mexico border on June 12, 2018 in McAllen, Texas. The group of women and children had rafted across the Rio Grande from Mexico and were detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents before being sent to a processing center for possible separation. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is executing the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy towards undocumented immigrants. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions also said that domestic and gang violence in immigrants' country of origin would no longer qualify them for political asylum status. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Despite increased security along the U.S.-Mexico border, agents who patrol the area say the number of Central Americans crossing the Rio Grande is up.

Official numbers won’t be released until later this week, but The Washington Post reports from south Texas:

“Agents working in the Rio Grande Valley, the nation’s busiest corridor for illegal crossings, say they’ve seen more families turn themselves in and ask for asylum in recent weeks, a potential indication that the policy reversal has encouraged more Central Americans to head north.”

The Trump administration’s zero tolerance policy along the border was shelved after the separation of more than 2500 families was met with condemnation.

Donald Trump has threatened to shut down the government over lack of funding for his border wall.

“They keep coming and coming,” said one agent. “There were some really large groups. Any time you have to use buses to come and pick them up, that’s not a good sign.”

Any time you have to use buses to come and pick them up, that’s not a good sign.”

Meanwhile, more than 400 children remain separated from their parents after the  zero tolerance crackdown, despite a court ordered deadline.