(CNSNews.com) – Former Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan told the Senate Homeland Security Committee Thursday that the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) anticipates that 650,000 illegal immigrants will be released into the United States this year.
Morgan cited CBP estimates that the agency anticipates apprehending 1 million illegal immigrants trying to cross the border this year. He said 60 to 65 percent of illegals entering the country are families or minors, who are typically released into the U.S.
Following this trend, Morgan predicted that 650,000 illegals will be released into the country.
During his opening testimony, Morgan dispelled what he said were “false narratives” some have about illegal immigration.
“Here’s a couple false narratives quick I’d like to address: only 15 percent of those coming in … are found to have valid asylum claims, which really debunks the uniform outrage often used that immigrants are fleeing from extreme violence and persecution. In fact, recent statistics that I’ve seen have shown that the murder rate per capita has declined in the northern triangle countries. Baltimore, for example, has a higher murder rate per capita than Guatemala,” he said.
“The fact is, they’re being here for two reasons: economic equality and family reunification. Neither are valid claims under the asylum process. Nevertheless, we continue to facilitate an abuse of our laws and the generosity of this country. As a society, we cannot turn our backs and ignore the law, especially Congress. We can’t selectively enforce the laws based on political ideology or personal sense of morality,” Morgan said.
“There’s another false narrative, which goes something like this: But the numbers of illegal immigrants are way down, so it can’t possibly be a crisis. It’s essential to look at those numbers to evaluate their true meaning,” he said.
“In the late 1990s and 2000, there was 1.5 million apprehensions on the border, but as previously mentioned, the overwhelming majority were Mexican adult, of which we deported 90 percent of them – sometimes within hours of being apprehended. Additionally, one-third of those apprehended were recidivism, meaning the same person going back and forth, so those numbers are really about a million, but back then, everyone agreed it’s a crisis,” the senator said.
“Today, 60 to 65 percent of those illegally crossing are family units and minors, and because of our broken laws and policies, those individuals are allowed into the country. So let’s do the math. One million this year anticipated. That’s means we’re going to release 650,000 individuals into this country that are going to remain here indefinitely. This makes the current crisis in my opinion the worst we’ve ever experienced,” Morgan added.