A new report released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection indicates that 68,541 unaccompanied illegal immigrant children have been taken into custody so far in 2014.
According to The Blaze, the agency claims this is a 77 percent increase from 2013. Earlier this summer, estimates rose as high as 90,000 expected to cross the U.S. – Mexico border.
During a speech Thursday at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the surge created a humanitarian crisis.
"Without a doubt, we had a setback this summer, with the unprecedented number of unaccompanied children and others who crossed a narrow area of our southern border in the Rio Grande Valley, in search of a family member and a better life in this country,'" Johnson told the Washington Post.
While there is concern about the growing number of unaccompanied children crossing the border, some call for greater border security to protect the nation from terrorists.
On Fox News, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) claims roughly ten ISIS terrorists entered the country through the Mexican border.
“The suggestion that individuals who have ties to ISIL have been apprehended at the Southwest border is categorically false, and not supported by any credible intelligence or the facts on the ground,” a Homeland Security spokesman said in a statement.
Publication date: October 10, 2014
