DHS: ILLEGAL ARRIVALS SET TO HIT ONE MILLION BY END OF YEAR

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Daily Caller

Illegal arrivals at the U.S. southern border are set to hit one million by the end of fiscal year 2019, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen told Congress in prepared remarks Wednesday morning.

“The agency is now on track to apprehend more migrants crossing illegally in the first six months of this fiscal year than the entirety of FY17, and at the current pace we are on track to encounter close to one million illegal aliens at our southern border this year,” Nielsen said.

Nielsen’s testimony comes just one day after Customs and Border Patrol revealed that in February U.S. authorities apprehended or detained 75,000 illegal aliens constituting a 30 percent increase in illegal encounters or apprehensions over the previous month. Nielsen warned that “I can report today that CBP is forecasting the problem will get even worse this spring.”

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Number of Families Apprehended at Border Continues to Explode

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents apprehended more than 70,000 people in February, the majority unaccompanied children or families, the agency announced Tuesday.

This figure is the highest monthly total at any point in at least the past five years, lending credence to President Donald Trump's ongoing claim that America is experiencing a "crisis" at its southwestern border.

"We are currently facing a humanitarian and national security crisis along our southwest border. The vast increases in families and children coming across our border, in larger groups and in more remote areas, presents a unique challenge to our operations and facilities, and those of our partners, including the NGOS who work to assist these individuals and families throughout their immigration proceedings," said CBP Commissioner Kevin K. McAleenan.