As a new Trump administration prepares to enter the White House, after months of promises to crack down on illegal border crossings, new data emerges that seemingly confirms that the citizens in Mexico and Central America have taken him at his word. As data from the PewResearchCenter confirms, there has been a surge in illegal border crossings in October and November with the apprehension of people traveling as a family unit up 130% YoY.
As the chart below highlights, the total number of illegal migrants apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border in October and November 2016, including those traveling alone, was nearly 40% higher than any other year out of the past 5.
As Pew points out, apprehensions typically spike in the spring and summer months before dipping in the late summer, fall and winter months but 2016 bucked that trend as people rushed to beat the Trump inauguration.
In the 2016 fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2015 to Sept. 30, 2016), there were 408,870 total apprehensions at the Southwest border, up from 331,333 apprehensions in fiscal 2015. Historically, the number of apprehensions has spiked in the spring and early summer months, before dipping in the late summer, fall and winter months. But in fiscal 2016, apprehensions rose in August and September, with monthly totals that approached the highs of April and May.
Pew also notes that the apprehension of Central Americans exceeded that of Mexicans for just the second time in history. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times also reported that 15,000 non-Latin American migrants, primarily Haitians, Africans and Asians, passed through the Mexican state of Baja California in 2016, a fivefold increase from 2015.
Also in fiscal 2016, apprehensions of Central Americans exceeded that of Mexicans for just the second time. This first occurred in 2014, when there was a record surge in apprehensions of unaccompanied children and families, mostly from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala. Apprehensions dropped in 2015 due in part to increased immigration enforcement by the Mexican government at its southern border and internally, which made it more difficult for Central Americans to travel through Mexico to reach the U.S.
Of course, as we noted yesterday (see “Mexican Ambassador To U.S. Urges Illegals To Apply For Citizenship Before Trump Takes Office“), for those who are successful in crossing the border illegally, the Mexican Ambassador to the U.S. has a great plan for how you can avoid deportation. In fact, Ambassador Carlos Sada Solana has even expanded the hours of Mexican consulates in the United States to “better provide information and assistance” to concerned migrants ahead of Trump taking office on January 20th. Something tells us that this Ambassador isn’t going to be a great fit for the Trump administration.
via http://ift.tt/2hZiDCV Tyler Durden