During a Monday phone call for reporters, Homeland Security officials said about 6,000 Central American migrants have already reached the border at Tijuana, and between 8,500 and 10,500 are still trekking north. San Diego’s San Ysidro Port of Entry can handle only about 300 asylum seekers at any given time, so the thousands waiting and still traveling will have to be processed over a period of many months.
San Francisco District Judge Jon Tigar temporarily blocked President Trump’s new rule which prevents illegal border crossers from requesting asylum. The judge ruled that federal law allows any foreign national who reaches U.S. soil to request asylum. The ruling is a setback for the Administration’s attempt to cope with the Central American caravan now arriving at the southwest border.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recently announced the results from a six-month pilot program designed to increase law enforcement presence on certain Interior lands along the US-Mexico border. During the last six months Interior officers apprehended 4,010 illegal aliens -- a 4,000 percent increase over a comparable period in 2016 -- and induced 224 foreign nationals to not enter the U.S., i.e., turn back.
Border patrol agents in Arizona apprehended 654 illegal aliens in just two days this week in Arizona’s Yuma Sector. The migrants, mostly family units or unaccompanied alien children from Guatemala, are not believed to be associated with the Central American caravan. Apprehensions in the Yuma Sector in October (3,600) are up over 150% compared to last year.
The number of foreign students and graduates participating in the Optional Training Program (OPT) hit an all-time high during the 2017-18 school year with more than 200,000 foreign students and graduates working in the U.S. OPT allows foreign students and graduates to work in the United States for 12 months (up to 36 months for students in STEM fields) to gain on-the-job experience.
President Trump last week reiterated his call for more foreign workers to fill jobs apparently Americans won't do. This was lost in the blow-up between the President and CNN correspondent Jim Acosta. However, it isn't the first time the President has said this, and it isn't true.
Reports indicate splinter groups from Central American caravan reached Tijuana over the weekend. Yesterday some identified as caravan members by the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) climbed the fence and sat on top of it. Others jumped to the ground or crawled through fence openings but returned to Mexican soil when Agents approached.
When Democrats lost control of the House in 2010, a number of 'Blue Dog' Democrats who had earned B-grades or better through our immigration-reduction grade cards lost their seats. Since then, the Party has moved more and more towards supporting an expansion of legal immigration and less enforcement. Many of the newly elected Democrats will fill seats previously held by those 'Blue Dogs', but the lion's share of the incoming freshmen appear to be more in line with the national Party.
President Trump today issued a presidential proclamation that requires migrants over the next 90 days to "lawfully present themselves" at a port of entry in order to apply for asylum. During that period, those crossing the border illegally will not be allowed to apply for asylum. He said he is taking immediate action “to protect the national interest, and to maintain the effectiveness of the asylum system.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled today the Trump Administration must continue accepting applications to renew Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status, which provides work permits and a temporary stay of deportation to certain minors who came to the U.S. illegally. The ruling keeps in place for now a nationwide injunction blocking the Administration from ending the 2012 Obama program.
NumbersUSA lost a great champion for American workers Tuesday night when Rep. Dave Brat was narrowly defeated by Democratic challenger Abigail Spanberger. (We'll have more on her in a later post.) But with most of the House races settled, we can say that nearly all of the NumbersUSA A+ rated Members who ran for re-election will return to Congress in 2019.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions submitted his resignation on Wednesday at Pres. Trump's request. AG Sessions did the most of anyone in the Trump Administration to enact the immigration promises Pres. Trump made as a candidate in 2016.