Humanitarian Disaster Brewing at the Border
9,000 unaccompanied alien children projected for February — traditionally a low-travel month
By Andrew R. Arthur on February 28, 2021
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the number of unaccompanied alien children (UACs) apprehended by CBP at the Southwest border in February is projected to increase by 50 percent compared to January, to 9,000. February is traditionally one of the lowest travel months for illegal entrants, and has the fewest days. That projection reveals that there is a new humanitarian disaster brewing — one that could scuttle President Biden's immigration plans.
By way of comparison, UAC apprehensions at the Southwest border totaled just 1,910 in February 2017 — the month after the inauguration that year. That was likely attributable to what I termed the "Trump effect". Simply put, at the beginning of his term, the 45th president's campaign rhetoric dissuaded would-be entrants.
Now, on the other hand, CBP is dealing with the consequences of what my colleague Todd Bensman has deemed the "Biden effect". Most of the president's immigration actions and policies are direct rebukes of his predecessor's, and have had the opposite response. Amnesty is on the president's menu, and not surprisingly, would-be applicants are lining up on the nation's doorstep.
The month of February was the harbinger of the humanitarian disaster at the border that played out in FY 2019.
https://cis.org/Arthur/Humanitarian-Disaster-Brewing-Border
