San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Border crossings expected to drop after record surge
YUMA, Ariz. — The acting secretary of Homeland Security says he expects 25% fewer migrants to cross the border this month, as officials in Yuma unveiled the newest temporary facility meant to detain children and families.
That number of illegal crossings would still be too high, but it is a start, Kevin McAleenan said Friday, crediting Mexico with a concentrated effort to stop Central Americans before they arrived even to Mexico — a push prompted by threats of tariffs from President Trump.
The president has seen numbers of migrants crossing the U.S.Mexico border skyrocket under his term despite his hardline policies and tough talk. More than 100,000 people, mostly families from Central America, have crossed the border each month over the past few months. Trump sees the monthly border numbers as a benchmark for success, and in the past when he felt numbers were too high, he threatened to shut down the border. McAleenan dismissed the idea that a projected decrease in June was due in part to hot summer months, traditionally a time fewer people cross.
“These initiatives are making an impact,” he said.
Meanwhile, facilities that house detained migrants are vastly overcrowded and advocates and attorneys have decried conditions inside. Border facilities are meant as temporary holding stations, built to hold a maximum of about 4,000, but have routinely held as many as 15,000.
Teens and children, detained days or weeks by U.S. border authorities, described frigid cells where flustricken children in dirty clothes ran fevers, vomited and cried with no idea when they would get out, according to court documents in a case that governs how children are cared for in government custody. Congress sent Trump a $4.6 billion package on Thursday that bolsters care for the tens of thousands of migrants taken into custody. McAleenan praised the move, but also cautioned there was much more work to do.
In Yuma, construction on the new 500person tent facility in a parking lot of a Border Patrol office began about two weeks ago.
The facility is composed of two large tents: One for processing and another that's divided into pods for holding, said Yuma Sector Chief Anthony Porvaznik.
The facilities will be exclusively for families traveling with children and for unaccompanied children. The agency spent just under $15 million for the setup and services for four months, including meals, laundry and security. There are thick mats to sleep on, showers, and playpens for infants.