Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Union leaders for the Border Patrol told lawmakers Wednesday that the agency is understaffed and unable to handle the influx of immigrants as a crisis unfolds at the border with unaccompanied children, the Houston Chronicle reports.
The agency is “drastically understaffed with morale plummeting to record lows,” Chris Crane, president of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council 118 of the American Federation of Government Employees, told the House Judiciary Committee.
“I hope that Congress will also consider the future consequences of allowing (enforcement and removal activity) to continue in its current state.”
Making matters worse is a heightening crisis involving the detainment of thousand of unaccompanied children from Central America. Up to 40% of Border Patrol’s manpower has been diverted to caring for the immigrants, said Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd. “This manpower decrease did not go unnoticed and for those trying to enter the country illegally – it was a good time to try,” Judd said.
