White House: 40K+ Illegals Apprehended in Last Three Months

On Friday evening, the White House announced that there have been over 40,000 illegal immigrants–children and adults–detained at the border in the last three months alone. 

Claiming that the Obama administration has made “unprecedented investments” in border security, the White House pushed for amnesty and talked up various initiatives with Central American nations to deter migration. They did not mention any specific programs in which the Obama administration has explicitly told migrants there is no “amnesty” on the other side of the border. For all the accomplishments the memo touts, Obama has still not gone to Central America or the U.S.-Mexico border to address the crisis.

According to federal officials, there have been nearly 57,500 illegal immigrant juveniles, nearly 90% of whom are teenagers, detained since October of last year. The Health and Human Services Department has taken care of 54,000 illegal immigrant juveniles this year, and 7,700 illegal immigrants are being housed in military facilities. Federal officials expect at least 150,000 more will be apprehended in the next fiscal year. 

As Breitbart News reported, the number of illegal immigrants from Central America who have been detained drastically spiked after President Barack Obama enacted his Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program by executive fiat in 2012. Since somewhere between one in five and one in 10 illegal immigrants are actually detained, according to Texas state Senator Dan Patrick, there may be a lot more illegal immigrants who have entered the country undetected.

The memo highlights initiatives that the Justice Department has taken — like providing illegal immigrants lawyers — in addition to actions taken by the Department of Homeland Security, ICE, Health and Human Services, and other agencies. It also highlights the Obama administration’s efforts with Central American leaders to combat trafficking and cartels “to get the word out to deter migration; improve the ability of Mexico and Guatemala to interdict migrants; enhance the Centrals ability to receive and reintegrate repatriated migrants; and address the underlying causes of migration.”