Homeland Security chief says ‘worst is over’ for border crisis

Illegal immigration on the southwestern border spiked 14 percent over the past year, marking the third straight increase, though Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said it was almost all because of the surge of illegal immigrant children and families from Central America — a crisis he said is subsiding. In a broad speech on the state of border enforcement, Mr. Johnson promised more transparency from his department but challenged the press to be responsible in reporting on threats such as Ebola and the possibility of terrorists crossing the border. He said he was not delivering “a ‘mission accomplished’ speech” and acknowledged that more needs to be done to secure the borders. SEE ALSO: White House: Obama doesn’t want immigration reform to be ‘casualty’ of election However, he said the summer flood of unaccompanied Central American children and families has fallen to rates not seen since 2012. “The worst is over for now,” Mr. Johnson said in remarks to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Overall, the Border Patrol apprehended 479,377 illegal immigrants in fiscal year 2014, a jump of nearly 65,000 in one year alone and almost a 45 percent increase over the low point in 2011, when fewer than 330,000 were apprehended. Still, it’s far less than the million-plus catch recorded every year in the middle of the last decade, or the record 1.6 million illegal immigrants caught in 2000.  Source