Trump May Build More Tent Cities Amid Skyrocketing Illegal Immigration

President Trump’s administration may build more tent cities to detain and house illegal aliens and Unaccompanied Alien Children (UACs) amid a border crisis wherein illegal immigration has skyrocketed to decade-high levels.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) data released to NPR reveals that the administration’s first round of tent cities to house border crossers are near full capacity, with nearly 15,000 UACs in federal custody.

Currently, HHS has more than 100 facilities to house the UACs, but about 92 percent of those facilities are full. The possibility of full-capacity at the tent cities is forcing the Trump administration to weigh the option of building more tent cities, a plan that would be sure to help wipe out the Catch and Release process whereby border crossers are caught and then released due to the lack of federal detention space.

The NPR report admits that the vast majority of the UACs detained in the tent cities are young Central American boys who arrived alone at the southern border. Despite seeking asylum, fleeing poverty, crime, or gang violence are not eligible claims for asylum in the U.S.

The potential plan to expand tent cities comes as illegal immigration to the country has soared to record levels over the past two months.

In November 2018, there were close to 52,000 border crossings on the southern border, alone, marking the highest level of illegal immigration in the month of November since 2006.

The continuing rise of illegal immigration at the southern border indicates that Fiscal Year 2019 will see the biggest boom of illegal immigration in more than a decade, with more than 600,000 border crossings, according to Princeton Researcher Steven Kopits.

In October 2018, illegal immigration at the southern border soared to the highest level for a single month since April 2014. The month’s illegal immigration levels are almost exactly double what southwest border crossings were this same month in 2017.