Surge in numbers of migrants at border raising fresh alarms

An unexpected summer upsurge in the number of unaccompanied children and migrant families apprehended along the Southwest border has raised concerns about the potential of another migrant crisis.

This latest surge is significant because migration numbers historically drop at the end of the summer as temperatures rise and desert travel becomes more dangerous.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection acknowledged a rise in the number of children and parents stopped at the border in July and August but emphasized that apprehensions are down overall for the year.

More than 4,500 unaccompanied children and 5,100 families were apprehended in August, which is greater than any previous August since 2011, according to a breakdown of the apprehension data. If the upswing continues, experts say it could be a sign of a meaningful trend.

“If the September numbers are higher than the August numbers, then that would be a real cause for alarm,” said Marc Rosenblum, deputy director of the U.S. immigration policy program at the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research center devoted to migration.

The exact reasons for the late rise are unclear, but U.S. officials, border agents and policy experts cite three probable factors: worsening violence in Central America, fewer apprehension by Mexico of Central Americans crossing its territory on the way to the United States, and a federal court decision in July that blocked the Obama administration’s ability to detain mothers and children for longer than a few days.

U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in Los Angeles ruled in July that the Obama administration’s family detention policy violated an 18-year-old court settlement regarding the detention of migrant children.

Immigration officials dramatically built up their capacity to detain mothers and children last year, when nearly 70,000 parents and children risked their lives to come to the United States.

Rosenblum said he’s not sure the summer numbers would be any different if Gee had ruled differently. He cited rising violence in El Salvador and questions about Mexican border enforcement.

More than 900 people in El Salvador were murdered in August — an average of nearly 30 each day.