The U.S.-Mexico international boundary, under former President Barack Obama, was a “very, very open border almost” and illegal aliens “understood” they could enter the United States and blend into the population, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary John Kelly tells CNN, noting that is no longer the case.
“Nothing has been done in the last eight years to truly enforce the border rules and regulations not to mention many of the immigration laws inside the United States,” declared Kelly, speaking to CNN from San Diego, later adding:
Under the Obama administration they turned back a large number of individuals, but that’s because it was a very, very open border almost and certainly once in, most illegals that moved into the United States, generally speaking, understood once they got here to the United States, got into the interior, they could stay [and] disappear into the population.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mw6nr71rfg
The DHS chief pointed out that border security has already improved under President Donald Trump, touting progress under the current administration in curbing illegal immigration.
“Those that would come up here illegally have decided to not make that dangerous trek as we secure the border, so the fact is that we have fewer and fewer, and fewer people — [a] radical reduction in the last two months of illegal crossings,” proclaimed Kelly.
The DHS secretary appeared alongside Attorney General Jeff Sessions during the CNN interview. Both officials were visiting the segment of the southwest border that lies in California.
CNN’s Kate Bolduan seemingly defended the Obama Administration’s record on border security, noting that immigration activists labeled the former president the “Deporter-in-Chief.”
Although the U.S. government removed a record number of immigrants under Obama Administration, some analysts argue that the deportations figures included many who were apprehended at or within 100 miles of the border and subsequently turned back as well as some Legal Permanent Residents (LPR) who committed removable offenses, including veterans.
The number of apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico border has dramatically decreased since President Trump was elected.
Early this month, a new report from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) component of DHS revealed that border apprehensions had plummeted by more than 60 percent since Trump took office.
Breitbart Texas reported:
Border apprehensions steadily increased in the nine months leading up to the presidential election in November, reaching a peak of 66,710 in October 2016. Since President Trump’s election on November 8, each month shows a decline in apprehension. The two full months following the inauguration show a dramatic drop to levels not seen in the past five years. Apprehensions decreased by more than 75 percent.
The 16,600 apprehensions last month represent the lowest number of border arrests in the past five years and a 30 percent decrease from the 23,750 illegals that Border Patrol agents arrested in February.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.