WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection says despite congressional inaction, border arrests are down from September and they’re 70-percent lower than the highest levels earlier this year.
The C-B-P says cooperation from Mexico and other countries are reducing the number of migrants coming to the U.S.
Acting Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Mark Morgan says Border patrol apprehended more than 42,000 migrants at the southern border in October.
“This is a significant decline,” said Morgan, adding that it’s no thanks to Congress. “Unfortunately not a single piece of meaningful legislation has been brought forward and as a result, this country stood by and watched as this crisis worsened.”
He says the White House is picking up the slack and teaming up with Mexico to fight the crisis at the southern border. “They have 27,000 soldiers on our border now protecting us from people coming into our country,” said President Donald Trump. “Because of that, I’m not tariffing Mexican goods.”
President Trump says the U.S. wouldn’t need Mexico’s help if Congress fixed the loopholes in our current laws. “I could fix them in 15 minutes, but the Democrats don’t want to fix them.”
Democrats in Congress say they are taking action, but against the president.
“You want to talk about a national emergency,” said U.S. Congressman Filemon Vela D-TX. “The only national emergency we have now is the one that is perpetrated by this administration’s policy on remain in Mexico.”
Vela says if the president really wants to address the crisis at the border, he would focus on humanitarian solutions, not building a border wall.
“It is just astonishing to me,” Vela added. “We are going to keep fighting this in Congress.”
