Southern Border Apprehensions hit new record passing 109,00 in April
U.S. Customs and Border Protection released the April 2019 Southern Border apprehension statistics which reports that Border Patrol agents apprehended a record 109,000 immigrants. Back in March I worried that the number of immigrants arriving at the border would get much larger. That fear has come to pass.
In the first 4 months of 2019, 347,697 immigrants arrived at the southern US border. That pace would put the 2019 total over 1 million border apprehensions by year’s end. I expect May to have the highest number of the year with the following months dipping, though staying high until winter.
Its no wonder that President Trump toughened his language on border security even further. On May 8th, President Trump gave a speech in Florida where he voiced his frustration as more and more immigrants pile up on the border. The President said:
“Don’t forget, we don’t let [border security agents]and we can’t let them use weapons. Other countries do, but we can’t. I would never do that. But, how do you stop these people?”
Those are troubling words from the sitting US President.
My biggest concern regarding migrant flows has to do with the heating up of the US/China trade war. If China stops investing in Africa, Central, and South America, it may trigger recessions/depressions in those areas. We may see more immigrants sprinting to the US and Europe as developing countries wither under a Chinese economic recession. (Brexit may push Europe into a recession as well, drying up other essential money for developing countries).
