DHS official: Feds, heat beating back surge of illegal border crossings

Federal efforts at the southwest border are helping to stem the tide of migrant children flowing illegally into the United States, a top Homeland Security Department official said Tuesday. 

Deputy Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas attributed a dramatic decrease in the numbers of unaccompanied youths arriving at the U.S. border to a series of actions taken by the agency.

After eclipsing more than 400 this spring, the daily number of unaccompanied children attempting to cross the southwest U.S. border has plummeted to around 50, according to federal figures.

But Mayorkas acknowledged the summer heat has also played a part in deterring children from making the grueling and dangerous trek from their home countries.

That could mean an increase in border crossings come fall.

“It would be premature at best to declare victory — to say the problem is behind us — because we don’t know,” he said during remarks at the National Press Club.

“If there is an uptick, we are prepared to address that uptick very quickly,” he said.

More than 63,000 unaccompanied minors have been detained crossing the border this year. The administration and advocates contend as many as three quarters of the children are escaping violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

Mayorkas highlighted a series of steps the agency has taken to slow the torrent of youths across the border. Among them is a beefed-up initiative to crack down on illegal smuggling operations by targeting both trafficking operations and their funding streams.

The agency has also launched an international public information campaign designed to convince families that the journey is too dangerous to warrant the trip. The outreach effort is also aimed at informing the families that their children would not be eligible for existing programs allowing younger illegal immigrants to remain in the United States lawfully.

Further, Mayorkas touted federal monetary aid being sent to help the foreign governments address violence seen by the administration as the root of the problem.

“I do think that investment of resources is perhaps the most important of all, with respect to the future,” he said.

Despite the decrease in crossings, the administration remains adamant that Congress should approve additional funding to help agencies cope with the crisis.

President Obama has sought $3.7 billion in supplemental funding, though some in Congress have balked at the request.

“We continue to believe that we should receive funding from Congress to address the surge,” Mayorkas said.

He said the administration is still planning to use executive action by year’s end in lieu of congressional action on an immigration reform bill.

The White House announced earlier this year that Obama would take more executive action easing deportations by the end of the summer but recently backtracked, after vulnerable Democrats in tough reelection races pushed back against the proposal.

Obama now plans to delay a new executive order until after the midterm elections.

“He has delayed that action to ensure that the action he takes is sustainable,” Mayorkas said.