Is There Really a Crisis at the Southern Border? DHS Nielsen says ‘Yes!’

Is there really a crisis at the southern border that supports President Donald Trump’s National Emergency Declaration?

On Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen testified before the House Homeland Security Committee that her department expects to apprehend 900,000 illegal immigrants at the border this year.

Nielsen testified:

“Our nation is facing a dire humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border. The agency is now on track to apprehend more migrants crossing illegally in the first six months of this fiscal year than the entirety of FY17.”

Reportedly in 2017, just a little more than 310,000 people were arrested for illegally trying to cross into the United States.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency announced that more than 76,000 people were encountered in February, making it the largest monthly number in 12 years.

In 2018, a total of 683,000 illegal immigrants tried to enter the U.S.

The Border Patrol said they expect the numbers to continue spiking this spring.

With many believing Congress isn’t doing its job when it comes to immigration, it’s not difficult to believe that things have grown increasingly worse.

The Senate is expected to vote on Trump’s National Emergency Declaration in the coming weeks.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has signaled he will vote against the President’s order.

Paul recently was quoted as saying:

“I can’t vote to give the President the power to spend money that hasn’t been appropriated by Congress. We may want more money for border security, but Congress didn’t authorize it. If we take away those checks and balances, it’s a dangerous thing.”

And if we leave the borders open because Congress is once again failing us, Sen. Paul, it will be an even more dangerous thing.