Border & Immigration News
The Daily Signal provides border and immigration news, including reporting, analysis, and commentary on policy, enforcement, and political debates.
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news
Mexico Detains Fewer Migrants as Tougher Policy Takes Hold
Monthly apprehensions of migrants in Mexico have begun to slow down, indicating that its government’s recent border crackdown is yielding results. Authorities in Mexico apprehended 18,758 migrants in July, according to preliminary data from Mexico’s immigration agency, reported by The Wall Street Journal. While this number is more than double the amount detained in the same month… -
news
ICE Releases 218,400 Members of Migrant Families in 8 Months
Federal immigration officials have released more than 218,000 migrant family members from custody since December, reflecting the huge backlog of U.S. immigration courts. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, tasked with carrying out removal orders for illegal aliens living in the U.S., has been forced to let go a total of 108,400 migrants over the past… -
news
Author Testifies That China Fails to Crack Down on Fentanyl
In testimony before a congressionally created panel that oversees U.S.-China economic and security issues, four specialists outlined negative implications of China’s expanding role in the global health care market. Award-winning investigative journalist Ben Westhoff, addressing the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, spoke on the dangers of China’s lucrative production of the drug fentanyl. Westhoff is the… -
opinion
What It’s Really Like Inside a Migrant Processing Facility
The Department of Homeland Security expects the number of new illegal immigrants coming to the U.S. to top 1.1 million by the end of the fiscal year in September. The border crisis is much talked about in Washington, but little progress is being made to address it. Rep. Mark Green, R-Tenn., recently took a trip… -
news
Illegal Migrants on Way to US Border Down 39%, Mexico Says
The Mexican government says the number of U.S.-bound illegal migrants traveling through its country has decreased by 39% since May, a result of its bolstered enforcement efforts. Marcelo Ebrard, Mexico’s foreign relations secretary, said Tuesday that the number of mostly Central American migrants traveling through the country to reach the U.S. dropped from 144,278 in… -
news
DHS Chief Visits Guatemala to Secure Deal on Migrants
Acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan visited Guatemala to continue talks with the country’s top leaders after reaching a major agreement on U.S.-bound asylum-seekers. McAleenan traveled Wednesday to Guatemala City, where he was to speak with officials about the "safe third country deal" recently signed by both countries, according to the Department of Homeland Security…. -
news
Poll: Immigration ‘Most Important Problem’ Facing US
July saw a record high of Americans who identified immigration as “the most important problem” facing the United States, according to a new poll. The Gallup polling organization first noted the increased number of immigration mentions from those polled reaching its highest point in June at 23%, but July broke that record with mentions climbing to… -
news
California Is Expanding Government Health Care to More Illegal Immigrants. Here’s What to Expect.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has signed into law a measure expanding eligibility for the state Medicaid program known as Medi-Cal to extend health care benefits to more state residents, including young adult illegal immigrants. Conservatives warn the change could attract more illegal immigrants to the state and further burden a health care system… -
news
Supreme Court Allows Trump to Use Pentagon Funds to Build Border Wall
The Supreme Court, in an order late Friday, allowed President Donald Trump to reprogram $2.5 billion in Pentagon funds to start construction on 100 miles of border wall. Chief Justice John Roberts and the four other conservative justices–Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Clarence Thomas–voted with the government in full. Liberal Justices Ruth Bader… -
opinion
Is Texas Democrat Exploiting Loophole by Coaching Migrants to Lie?
Are Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, and her staff violating federal immigration law? If the information reported in the Washington Examiner is correct, then the answer could be “yes.” The National Border Patrol Council’s El Paso chapter and Customs and Border Protection staff told the Examiner that Escobar has been sending members of her staff to the Mexican… -
news
‘Helping People Avoid Justice’: Border Patrol Union President Reacts to Clinton’s Advice to Illegal Aliens
National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd blasted Hillary Clinton for publicly coaching illegal immigrants on how to avoid apprehension from Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. “I’m amazed that somebody … that ran for president of the United States—that was willing to promise to uphold the laws of the United States, the Constitution of the… -
news
Trump Administration Preparing to Arrest Illegal Immigrants in Nationwide Raids
The White House is reportedly picking plans back up to apprehend and deport thousands of illegal immigrants who have ignored court orders to leave the country. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Sunday will launch raids across major U.S. cities, according to Homeland Security officials who spoke with The New York Times and NBC News. The… -
opinion
Hungary’s Unique Approach to Helping Migrants
Two summers ago on a visit to Budapest, I asked the spokesman for the Hungarian government about the growing problem of migrants coming into Europe. He told me Hungary doesn’t have a migrant problem because they don’t have welfare programs. So, he said, migrants continue their travels to other European countries that do. That’s not… -
news
ICE ‘Ready’ to Apprehend and Deport a Million Illegal Immigrants
The acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services said the government is “ready” to identify, detain, and deport the illegal immigrants who have ignored court orders to leave the country. “They’re ready to just perform their mission, which is to go and find and detain and then deport the approximately 1 million people who… -
news
4 Things to Know About Ken Cuccinelli, Trump’s New Chief for Lawful Immigration
As acting director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli becomes a key player in the Trump administration’s enforcement of immigration laws. On Tuesday, Cuccinelli attended a ceremony at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York as 52 persons from 28 countries became U.S. citizens. “This is… -
news
Cruz Calls on DHS to Make It Easier for Americans to Donate to Migrants at Border
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is asking the Department of Homeland Security to accept donations from charities for migrants at the Southern border. “I … urge you to establish and publicize a process for accepting donations from charitable organizations, faith-based organizations, and [nongovernmental organizations] to aid individuals in [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] custody,” the Republican… -
news
Federal Judge Blocks Billions of Dollars for Border Wall Funding
A federal judge in California barred the Trump administration Friday night from reallocating $2.5 billion to construct border barriers. U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam, an Obama appointee, expanded an earlier order and forbade the government from moving forward with specific border wall projects in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas. He also turned the previous… -
opinion
These 8 Graphics Explain How Bad the Illegal Immigration Crisis Really Is
For months, Democrats denied the illegal immigration crisis at the southern border, with Sen. Chuck Schumer, flanked by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, going so far as to accuse President Donald Trump of working to “manufacture a crisis, stoke fear and divert attention from the turmoil in his administration." The president, on the other hand, has… -
news
Ocasio-Cortez Supports Wayfair Walkout Over Furnishing Migrant Camps
Wayfair employees planned a walkout after learning the online furnishing company is going to fulfill an order to furnish a migrant camp and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., is voicing her support. The retailer is going ahead with a $200,000 bed and furniture sale to a detention facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas. Almost 550 Wayfair employees… -
opinion
A Border Patrol Agent Shares What It’s Really Like at the Border
“What was pretty amazing to me … is just how bold these individuals are when they’re crossing the border, giving themselves up knowing that they’re going to get released and they’re going to get released into the United States and that they’re going to be able to disappear into the shadows of society,” says Brandon…