The number of unaccompanied children apprehended while crossing the border has gone up almost 700% since 2017, according to a new report from the Center for Immigration Studies.
The number increased 685% between April 2017 and February 2019, according to the report, which also says 26,937 unaccompanied child immigrants where apprehended in the first five months of fiscal year 2019.
Of those, 2,039 were deemed inadmissible. In fiscal year 2018, 49,100 unaccompanied child immigrants were referred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, down from 59,170 in fiscal year 2016, but far more than the 13,625 that were apprehended in fiscal year 2012.
"Foreign nationals living in the United States know that if they pay to have their children brought here, they will be quickly reunited and likely remain here indefinitely due to our asylum loopholes," said Andrew Arthur, author of the report and the Resident Fellow in Law and Policy at the Center.
"As such, it is no wonder that they're paying criminals to do so. This flow, which is perilous for the minors themselves and overwhelming for our immigration system, will not stop rising until Congress plugs the loopholes driving it."
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