Obama Border Patrol Chief Says Border Crisis ‘Absolutely a National Emergency’
A former Border Patrol chief in the Obama administration, who was fired by the Trump administration in 2017, told national television on March 21 that there is “absolutely a national emergency” at the U.S.-Mexico border. Mark Morgan, who served as Obama’s Border Patrol chief for most of 2016, told Fox Business’s “Mornings with Maria” that there was an undeniable state of crisis at the border.
“It’s absolutely a national emergency,” Morgan said during the interview. “What we are talking about right now is part of the continued catch and release. It’s a little bit different than before.” He explained that previously anyone caught by border patrol agents would be turned over to ICE, who then releases them according to immigration policies. But now this does not happen because of overcrowding at border patrol and ICE detention facilities. “Now, border patrol agents are having to release illegal aliens into the interior of the United States. They’re overwhelmed,” Morgan said, adding that after the illegal aliens are released “you never hear from them again.”
This week, border patrol released 250 migrants and are expected to release hundreds more because of an influx of Central American families causing overcrowding in immigration facilities, reported Los Angeles Times. Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen warned lawmakers earlier this month that “illegal immigration is simply spiraling out of control and threatening public safety and national security.” “In February, we saw a 30 percent jump over the previous month, with agents apprehending or encountering nearly 75,000 aliens,” Nielsen told the House Committee on Homeland Security. “This is an 80 percent increase over the same time last year. And I can report today that CBP is forecasting the problem will get even worse this spring as the weather warms up.”
Morgan, who was also a former FBI agent, thinks loopholes in asylum laws and the incentives of being in the United States are generally to blame for the level of crisis. “The intelligence will show you they’re not fleeing violence and persecution like a lot of the talking points,” he said. “Actually violence in Guatemala, [and] all Central American countries, are way down—homicide rates overall.” He continued, “They’re coming for two reasons economic equality [and] family reunification. And they know because of our asylum laws, they step one foot in American soil, they’re allowed in never to be heard from again.” The former border patrol chief said in order to handle the crisis, asylum laws should be amended to require anyone who wishes to seek asylum in the United States to make their applications in Mexico or their country of origin.
https://www.theepochtimes.com/obama-border-patrol-chief-says-border-crisis-absolutely-a-national-emergency_2847582.html