Thread by @EpochTimes

2019 in Review📅Article by @charlottecuthbo (Thread👇)

#BorderCrisis Peak, #Mexico Cooperation, and Judicial Wrangling

The year began with President Trump declaring a #NationalEmergency at the southern #Border. theepochtimes.com/year-in-review…

The #BorderCrisis escalated, and in May, nearly 133,000 #IllegalAliens were apprehended by #BorderPatrol, with a further 11,000 presenting at ports of entry without legal documentation.

By the end of fiscal 2019, almost 1 million people had entered the US illegally.

Over 600,000 of them were either individuals within a family unit or unaccompanied minors—both vulnerable populations that often arrived sick and required more care than #BorderPatrol was set up to provide.

The dire situation in overcrowded #BorderPatrol stations was not alleviated until July, when #Congress appropriated emergency funds for #Humanitarian relief.

By December, illegal entries had decreased to 42,000 for the month, following a steady decline since the peak in May.

The real change happened south of the #Border, at the behest of the Trump admin: The Migrant Protection Protocols took effect, #Mexico tightened its enforcement, and the US forged agreements with the Central American nations of #Guatemala, #Honduras, and #ElSalvador.

The threat of #Tariffs in June spurred #Mexico to cooperate.

In July, #AsylumSeekers became ineligible for #Asylum benefits in the US if they didn’t apply for asylum in a safe 3rd country, including #Mexico, on their way here.

The ruling was initially blocked nationwide, but subsequently allowed by the #SupremeCourt.

Instead of being given an ankle bracelet and released into the US, under the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), #IllegalAliens may be sent back to #Mexico to await their #Immigration court proceedings.

The MPP effectively stopped “catch and release.”

If their claims are deemed meritorious by an #Immigration judge, they will be granted legal status and benefits to live and work in the US. If not, they’ll be sent back home, which, under the new agreements with Central American countries, has become easier.

From Jan-Nov, 56,004 people under MPP filed #Immigration cases, according to TRAC data:
- 24,231 cases are complete, with 117 granted asylum or other legal status and 15,441 issued a removal order.
- 8,099 fell under a “terminate proceedings,” which likely means they withdrew.

Almost 22,000 are still waiting for their first hearing, while 17,136 failed to show up at their last hearing, according to TRAC.

The Trump admin won a few big rulings in the #SupremeCourt this year—including upholding the use of #Military funds to build #BorderWall, allowing for the detention of criminal #IllegalAliens prior to #Deportation, and allowing for a safe 3rd country rule for #AsylumSeekers…

…to continue while it works its way through lower courts.

A court in #Texas has since issued another nationwide #Injunction against military funds being used for #BorderWall construction. 96 miles of #Border fencing has been erected so far under Trump.

The #SupremeCourt is currently considering the case of #DACA recipients, who were given amnesty from #Deportation in 2012 by then-President Obama in the form of an #ExecutiveOrder. The Trump admin rescinded the order in 2017, but the program has remained open…

…while it works its way through the court system.

Expect more jostling in the courts in 2020, including the #DACA decision and a potential #BirthrightCitizenship battle.

“There’s still 40,000 people a month coming across that border, and Congress has done nothing to address it.”

Although the #BorderCrisis has diminished somewhat, it’s unlikely Congress will do anything in 2020 to solve it, predict both Homan and Vaughan.

“You’re going to see the number of unaccompanied minors skyrocket because you basically have opened the gates and said, ‘OK, go ahead and smuggle your kids, because ICE can’t do anything about it…Talk about advertising for more children to be trafficked”

“For 2 million folks, it would mean that they would no longer face the threat of deportation.”

The House passed on Dec. 11 the Farm Workforce Modernization Act that would essentially give amnesty to up to 2 million #IllegalAliens in the country.

The bill is unlikely to pass the #Senate. But just talking about amnesties creates a surge to the #Border.

“Eevery time Congress starts talking about amnesties, and even passing them in one chamber or the other, it motivates people to try to come here illegally.”

“It’s already bad for ICE [and] it’s going to get worse,” Homan said.

#Sanctuary jurisdictions that shield #IllegalAliens from #Immigration enforcement will remain in the spotlight in 2020.

“The four hard narcotics—heroin, meth, fentanyl, cocaine—all those hard narcotics went up last year,”

@CBP seized over 800,000 pounds of drugs in fiscal 2019, mostly at ports of entry, according to Morgan.

Trump has toyed with designating the #DrugCartels as foreign #Terrorist organizations, but said he has held back at the request of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

“I think this border will be chaos if one of the Democrats win the election.”

All the Democratic frontrunners have vowed to decriminalize #Border crossings, provide #Healthcare for #IllegalImmigrants, defund or abolish @ICEgov, and provide #Amnesty.

/END/