Today Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX-28) issued the following statement in response to the continued surge of children and families coming across the U.S.-Mexico border:

“Over the past year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has reported a 42 percent decrease in apprehensions of unaccompanied children and families along the border. According to CBP, the total number of apprehensions of unaccompanied children for fiscal year 2015 was 39,970, compared with 68,541 in fiscal year 2014. In 2015, apprehensions of parents with children dropped from to 39,838 from 68,445 in 2014.

“Although the CBP report shows a decrease in apprehensions from fiscal year 2014, we still need to focus our attention and resources to the border. The problem is not solved and we need to keep monitoring. The actual number of children apprehended at the border is not just 39,970. Instead, those 39,970 children are supplemented by the 22,132 children apprehended with a family member. This makes for total of 62,102 children apprehended (unaccompanied children and children with a family member) between October 1, 2014 and September 30, 2015.”

“The flow of children and families across the border is an ongoing occurrence. The actual numbers are quite a bit different and deserve greater scrutiny.

“We need to take action to curb this continued flow of undocumented crossings across our southern border. The real question is: How many of those who do not have a legal basis to be in the United States have been deported?”

To see the latest apprehension numbers as reported by CBP, please click here. To see a further breakdown of numbers from CBP regarding children detained along the southwest border, please click here.