When Will Congress Get Serious About the Suffering at the Border?

6/15/19
 
   < < Go Back
 
from The New York Times,
6/9/19:

It’s time to cut the squabbling and pass an emergency relief package.

Last week, as American and Mexican officials haggled over how to address the migrant crisis at their countries’ shared border, United States Customs and Border Protection released its monthly migration statistics. They tell an alarming story.

In May, 144,278 migrants were taken into custody. It was the third consecutive month in which apprehensions topped 100,000 and the highest one-month total in 13 years.

Unequipped to deal with the crush, border facilities and migrant shelters are dangerously overcrowded, and the staff is overburdened. Dysfunction, disease and even death are a growing reality.

“We are in a full-blown emergency, and I cannot say this stronger: The system is broken,” the acting commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, John Sanders, said.

More From The New York Times (subscription required):