Byron York: How bad does border have to be for Democrats to admit it's an emergency?

...For some perspective: According to Border Patrol statistics, U.S. authorities caught 1,643,679 people trying to cross the border illegally from Mexico in fiscal 2000. In 2001 the number was 1,235,718. In 2002 it was 929,809. In 2003 it was 905,065. In 2004 it topped the million mark again, with 1,139,282. In 2005 it was 1,171,396. In 2006 it was 1,071,972. After that, due to a combination of slightly more assertive border security policies, plus, far more importantly, a massive economic downturn, the number of apprehensions began to fall. They hit a low point of 327,577 in 2011, leading many in Washington to assume that the problem — if they ever thought it was a problem — no longer existed. [Related: Senate Homeland Security chairman blames DACA and court decisions for staggering border surge] Then the number began to creep back up, to 479,371 in 2014. Then it fell back down in 2017, to 303,916. That was likely due to would-be migrants' fear that newly elected President Trump would get tough on illegal crossings. But the courts, resisting Democrats, ambivalent Republicans, and Trump's own lack of focus stopped any great progress on the border. In a matter of months, migrants knew Trump could not stop them from entering the country illegally — and staying. It should surprise no one that the numbers headed up again, to 396,579 in 2018. Now, crossings have gone through the roof, with 76,103 apprehensions in February of 2019 and 100,000-plus in March, numbers that could have come from the early- and mid-2000s. And the numbers do not tell the whole story. In the Clinton-Bush years, the overwhelming number of illegal crossers were single, adult men trying to avoid detection as they sneaked across the border. When caught, they were quickly returned. So when 1.2 million were caught crossing, that did not mean that 1.2 million stayed in the United States. Now, however, the nature of the flow has changed. Today, the large majority of those caught crossing are families and unaccompanied children. They are not trying to sneak in, they are crossing for the purpose of giving themselves over to the Border Patrol. They do that knowing U.S. law forbids them being returned, or separated, or even held for more than a few days. In short order, they are released into the United States...MORE