Honduran migrants surrender to the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing a border wall into the United States. According to new federal data, the number of migrants apprehended crossing the border in recent months has surged.
Single adults have previously accounted for a majority of border apprehensions. But U.S. border officials apprehended more family members trying to cross the border from June to September than in any previous full fiscal year.
It can be more difficult for border agents to detain, deport or otherwise enforce punishments on families than on single adults. There is a legal limit on how long children can be held, and the Biden administration ended the practice of detaining families in 2021.
Families may be responding to this, showing up at the border instead of waiting for an appointment at an official checkpoint or through a humanitarian program. From January to May, people in families crossing the border made up about a fifth of total border apprehensions. In both August and September, that share rose to about half.
Experts say the U.S. policies of trying to deter people from crossing cannot work long term. They say that although people want to be safe and follow the rules, legal pathways have limited capacity, location restrictions and long wait times. This leaves many migrants to try and enter the country whether or not they legally fit into the current policies.
“We have yet to see any restrictive border policy work in terms of actually keeping the numbers down at the border,” Ms. Gilman said. “It just doesn’t work that way because people are fleeing extremely dangerous situations.”
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What is the difference between migrant and immigrant families?
The word migrant refers to someone who moves to other places in search of work or better living conditions. The word immigrant refers to those who have moved to foreign countries permanently for work or for better living conditions. It can be used both as a Noun and an Adjective.
What is an example of a migrant?
The term includes a number of well-defined legal categories of people, such as migrant workers; persons whose particular types of movements are legally-defined, such as smuggled migrants; as well as those whose status or means of movement are not specifically defined under international law.
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