“Family Units” Entering U.S. Via Mexico Doubles, Unaccompanied Minors Up 52%

While the nation is absorbed with presidential election theatrics, the Obama administration continues letting huge amounts of illegal immigrants to pour in through the southern border and the latest figures released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are incredibly chilling. The number of family units apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol in the first 11 months of fiscal year 2016 nearly doubled from the previous year, according to updated information released by the agency. The majority of these illegal border crossers will remain in the country under Obama’s special refugee and family reunification programs.

Fiscal years run from October through August and the latest available government stats show a 97% increase in the number of illegal immigrant family units this fiscal year compared to the same period in 2015. Family units are described as containing a child under 18 with a parent or legal guardian. Minors, classified as Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC), are also entering in droves, the DHS numbers reveal, with a 52% increase in apprehensions this fiscal year compared to 2015. In recent years the Obama administration has allowed tens of thousands of UACs, mostly from Central America, remain in the U.S. after crossing the Mexican border.

Initially, the influx of illegal alien minors received lots of media attention but the coverage has fizzled even though the crisis continues. In the first 11 months of the fiscal year the Border Patrol apprehended 54,052 UACs compared to 35,485 in 2015. The overwhelming majority of UACs—33,183—entered the U.S. through the Rio Grande Valley sector in Texas. During the initial surge in 2014, 48,468 UACs came in through the Rio Grande Valley and the number dropped to 21,131 last year before rising again this year. The same pattern applies to other crossings, some more pronounced than others. For instance, the Yuma sector in Arizona saw a 227% increase in apprehensions from last year and the El Paso sector in Texas a 133% increase.

The same crossings were the busiest for family units, the Border Patrol figures show. So far this fiscal year, 45,672 of the 68,080 illegal immigrant family units have crossed into the U.S. through the Rio Grande Valley, which saw an alarming 91% rise from last year. The El Paso sector had an astounding 361% boost in family units compared to last year with Yuma and El Centro in California 278% and 124% respectively. In both the family and UAC cases, the numbers spiked in 2014, dipped considerably in 2015 and came back up in 2016. Most of the family units came from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, though a few thousand came from Mexico. The majority of UACs also came from the same three Central American countries but a much larger chunk—10,854—are Mexican.

There seems to be no end to this madness, which continues to cost American taxpayers monstrous sums because the Obama administration allows most of these illegal immigrants to stay in the U.S. as refugees. Tens of thousands have been released to the custody of relatives, a majority of them also illegal aliens. Government records obtained earlier this year by the Washington D.C.-based Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) show that 80% of the 71,000 UACs placed between February 2014 and September 2015 were released to sponsors who are in the United States illegally. In more than half the cases the illegal alien minors were placed with parents, CIS writes in a report, and the rest were released to siblings, aunts and uncles. The Obama administration says it’s a family reunification program.

The cost to American taxpayers is outrageous. Besides the tens of millions of dollars that public school districts nationwide must spend to accommodate these kids’ special needs, the federal government uses a special Refugee and Entrant Assistance Account to help the UACs integrate in the U.S. as well as a separate Unaccompanied Children (UC) program with a billion-dollar budget. In its report the CIS states that the UC budget request for fiscal year 2017 is $1.226 billion, which marks an increase of $278 million from fiscal year 2016. The Refugee and Entrant Assistance budget is also massive at $2,184,860,000 in fiscal year 2017, a $510 increase over 2016. Additionally, the Obama administration uses funds from a $70 million slush account for “unexpected urgent refugee and migration needs,” the CIS reveals.