Trump threatens to close border

President Donald Trump on Friday warned he might close the southern U.S. border and called on Congress to change immigration laws amid a recent flood of unauthorized migrants. “If Mexico doesn’t immediately stop ALL illegal immigration coming into the United States through our Southern Border, I will be CLOSING the Border, or large sections of the Border, next week,” the president said in a series of tweets.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Kevin McAleenan told reporters earlier this week that the U.S. border with Mexico is at a “breaking point” with unprecedented numbers of people crossing illegally or coming to points of entry and claiming asylum. “CBP is facing an unprecedented humanitarian and border security crisis all along our Southwest border,” he said. “On Monday we saw the highest total of apprehensions or encounters in over a decade, with 4,000 migrants either apprehended or encountered at ports of entry in a single day. Yesterday we broke the record again with 4,117.” McAleenan said most of the apprehensions and encounters involved migrants from Central America seeking asylum in the United States, adding that holding facilities are overrun.

Border officials detained more than 75,000 migrants in February, the highest number in 12 years. More than 7,000 of the detainees were unaccompanied children.