Illegal immigration up 9 % in 2012

Washington Times:

Even as President Obama travels to Las Vegas Tuesday to call for legalizing illegal immigrants, the latest numbers from the U.S. Border Patrol suggest that the flow across the nation’s southwest border jumped by 9 percent up last year.

The Border Patrol made 356,873 arrests along the U.S.-Mexico border in fiscal year 2012, up from 327,577 in 2011, according to figures obtained by the Associated Press and confirmed by The Washington Times. Border Patrol officials estimate that apprehensions are a good proxy for illegal crossings, so when the numbers go up, it means that the flow of illegal immigrants is going up as well.

Last year’s increase marks a reversal. Apprehensions peaked in 2005 at 1.2 million and had been steadily dropping every year since as first President George W. Bush and then Mr. Obama committed more manpower and resources to the border.

In his first term Mr. Obama said he had fortified the border so much that it could now be deemed secure, and Congress could turn its attention to passing an overhaul of the broader immigration system.

On the way to Las Vegas, White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters Tuesday that the apprehension numbers are a good sign.

“We’ve seen in Fiscal Year 2012 apprehensions totaled nearly 365,000 nationwide; that’s a 50 percent decrease from 2008,” he said.

The Homeland Security Department didn’t respond Tuesday morning to a request for comment on the new numbers, but Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, said the data represents a problem for Mr. Obama as he pushes for legalization.

“The Obama administration has asked the public and policy makers to accept its theory that declining numbers have meant that we are actually getting control of the border and that it is ‘more secure than ever before.’ If they’re going to stick with that logic, this would meant that things are going in the other direction,” she said.

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I think the numbers are actually understated.  The cartels have added human trafficking to their business model and have had a brisk business in getting people into the country and into stash houses in major cities like Houston.  Police recently stumbled onto a stash house  with over 40 illegals inside.  Patrol officers as far away as Oklahoma are finding vehicles stuffed with illegal immigrants.  The cartels round the mostly Central American immigrants up off the trains that come up the coast.  If they can't pay they are killed.  If they have the money, the cartels slip them into the US and pack them into stolen trucks and SUVs.  This is not a problem that can be solved with more drones unless they do some heavy patrolling in Mexico.