Congress needs to give the Department of Homeland Security a full year appropriations bill for his department to enhance border security in America, U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said during a speech at the Downtown campus Wednesday.
The department is on a continuing resolution that expires on Feb. 27, which restricts them from moving forward on the border security mission that will hopefully prevent illegal immigration spikes.
During the spike of immigration last summer in the Rio Grande Valley, Congress said something needed to be done about it, but the Department of Homeland Security is unable to act accordingly, Johnson said.
“We’re doing things. We’re surging resources, building more residential capability, putting people on the border, but I can’t print my own money, I can’t appropriate money,” he said. “We sent up a request for supplemental funding for the physical year 2014, which they never passed.”
Migration patterns have become seasonal, with spikes in migration being especially prevalent in early January and the beginning of June through July. However, new data suggest that illegal immigrants are traveling from Central America more, and that new immigrants are largely women and unaccompanied children.
Johnson said in the face of the unprecedented spike, Homeland Security had to step up its personnel and resources by building more shelters, increasing detention space and reducing the repatriation time.
“I had been hearing about this, and I wanted to see it myself," he said. "The place was flooded with 5-year-olds, 7-year-olds, (12-year-olds) and teenagers without parents."
Johnson said the Secure The Border First Act of 2015 requires operational control over the border to completely stop illegal border crossings.
“I think the message has to be that with the right investment of resources, we can make a difference," he said. "We have made a difference. We need to do better and we are focused on this, and we’re going to continue to make progress.”
Reach the reporter at blhughe2@asu.edu or follow @__bhughes on Twitter.
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