Arrests of migrant family members increased by a similar percentage during the same period last year, rising 36 percent from July to August 2017. But the 12,774 family members taken into custody this August marked a threefold increase over 2017 and stands among the highest monthly totals on record. What has changed, DHS officials say, is the growing recognition in Central America of the opportunities afforded by what they consider “legal loopholes” in U.S. enforcement. Restrictions on child detention leave the federal government powerless to stop parents who bring children, officials said. Their declining share among the arrest totals is proof, DHS officials say, that more-aggressive enforcement has a deterrent effect.

Source: Washington Post September 12, 2018 18:04 UTC