Number of migrants at U.S. border surges

Migrant shelters along the southern border are filling up again. Immigration lawyers say their caseloads are spiking. Across the Southwest, border officers are stopping more than 1,000 people a day.

Just months after border apprehensions hit a 17-year low, the number of migrants trying to enter the U.S. has surged, surpassing 40,000 along the Southwest border last month, more than double the spring numbers, said data from the Homeland Security Department. Many factors, including the Central American economy and violence, play a role. But it also appears that any deterrent effect of President Donald Trump’s tough talk and ramped-up immigration enforcement has begun to wane.

Volunteers and lawyers say migrants and smugglers have decided that trying to get a foothold in the U.S. was no riskier than in the past. “I think this was a ‘Let’s wait and see what’s going to happen’ period,” said Ruben Garcia, director of the Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas.

New York Times