Border Patrol Agents Arrest 16,658 Family Members in September Alone
GETTING WORSE
Reportedly the highest one-month total on record.
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Border Patrol agents reportedly arrested 16,658 family members along the U.S. border in September, the highest one-month total on record, The Washington Post reports. Groups of over 100 children and adults from Central America have been crossing the border to turn themselves in, citing “a fear of return.” The newspaper notes that families are typically assigned a court date and then released from custody. Figures from the Department of Homeland Security also reportedly show that 107,212 family members were taken into custody and 396,579 arrests were made along the border in Fiscal Year 2018. NBC News also reported that a migrant caravan from Honduras has grown to 4,000 people as it approaches the Mexico-Guatemalan border. Mexico has reportedly sent 500 federal police to the border in anticipation of the caravan's arrival. President Trump confirmed this week that his administration is considering renewing the controversial family-separation policy enacted earlier this year that separated a large number of children from their parents.
