With the fall of Afghanistan and the coronavirus pandemic dominating the news cycle lately, you may have forgotten about the ongoing crisis at the southern border. The border situation is not getting much attention from the mainstream media, but it continues to get worse. "We had 212,000 apprehensions in the month of July, which is a month when the numbers should have been down, because it's so hot," says Todd Bensman, senior fellow with the Center for Immigration Studies. "Instead, the numbers are up, which is a testament to the sheer power of this surge."
Bensman tells KTRH that not only is the border situation getting worse, but it is evolving to new threats. "Probably more than 25 percent of all border apprehensions now involve immigrants who are not from Central America or Mexico anymore, they're from all over the world," he says. "There's a huge rush of people coming in from places like Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia and Africa."
While the border surge continues, the U.S. is now focused on bringing in Afghan refugees fleeing Taliban rule in that country. Bensman warns that U.S. policy toward Afghan refugees will have a direct impact on the border. "We should expect that when we put in visa caps, and decide how many and who in Afghanistan we're going to let in legally, that those who are barred will find the illegal way in and start coming to the border," he says.
There have already been terror watch list suspects caught at the southern border this year, and Bensman fears more are on the way due to the situation in Afghanistan.
"I know that Afghanistan is kind of a hot news story right now, but this thing at the border is not going away at all," says Bensman.