Migrant surge at US-Mexico border is worst in 20 years, DHS boss says

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday disclosed that the migration surge at the US-Mexico border is likely the worst the situation has been in 20 years.

Mayorkas, who has refused to call the situation a “crisis,” said in a statement that “[w]e are on pace to encounter more individuals on the southwest border than we have in the last 20 years.”

The statement referred to the surge as a “difficult situation,” but said his department is working to handle it “successfully.”

Mayorkas disclosed new information, including that most unaccompanied minors housed in cramped detention camps have family already in the US.

“In more than 80 percent of cases, the child has a family member in the United States. In more than 40 percent of cases, that family member is a parent or legal guardian. These are children being reunited with their families who will care for them,” Mayorkas said.

In February, about 30 percent of the people illegally crossing the border were under 18. There were 29,792 unaccompanied children detained without their parents — about five times more than in January — of whom 2,942 were under age 12, according to US Customs and Border Protection.