CBP Data Show Rise in Family Units Illegally Crossing Border
WESLACO – The southern border is seeing a sharp rise in the number of families crossing the border illegally, compared to earlier this year when the Trump administration took office.
Data from Customs and Border Protection showed a sharp drop with the start of the new administration.
However, those low numbers steadily increased throughout the year.
In Dec. 2016, under the Obama administration, the Rio Grande Valley sector reported 10,863 family units come across the border illegally.
In Feb. 2017, the Valley saw 2,003. By August, the number was 2,815.
"I wasn't afraid," said Ana Miriam Nataren Ayala, from Honduras, who came here with a 17-year-old son.
People were afraid earlier this year, after Trump took office. Now people are learning the so-called catch and release policy hasn't gone away.
Ayala explained she was released from detention two days after her arrest at the border.
She has paperwork instructing her to attend a court date. An ankle monitor keeps track of her movement.
"You're going to go to court," Ayala said she was told as she was being released.