'Not Surprising' That Minors Illegally Crossing Border Increased Nearly 1,000 Percent Since DACA

The number of unaccompanied minors apprehended illegally crossing the southern border has increased nearly 1,000 percent since the implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in 2012, according to House Judiciary Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA). “After six years of refusing to enforce our immigration laws and acting unilaterally to provide administrative amnesty to unlawful immigrants, President Obama has created disorder at our borders,” Goodlatte highlighted Friday. “Word has spread to Central America and beyond that our immigration laws are not enforced, which has encouraged hundreds of thousands of people to make the dangerous trek north to illegally cross our Southwest border." “It’s not surprising that since the implementation of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program the number of minors crossing the border has surged by nearly 1,000 percent,” he said, referring to the Obama administration's program which shields certain illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. as children from deportation. Goodlatte was reacting to U.S. Customs and Border Protection's recently released total tallies of unaccompanied alien minors (UAMs) and family units apprehended illegally entering the U.S. for Fiscal Year 2014, revealing that this year the government detained 68,541 UAMs and 68,445 family units. According to Goodlatte, the number of apprehended UAMs represented a 945 percent increase in the total since FY 2011 and a 361 percent increase in the total number of family units apprehended since last year...more