DHS Advisory Council warns migrant surge about to explode, urges Congress to act now

The Department of Homeland Security’s Advisory Council is urging lawmakers to change immigration laws in order to stem an “unprecedented” surge of immigrants coming to the U.S.

In its findings, the Council said the “crisis is real and will intensify in the coming months.”

One of the most important recommendations made by the Advisory Council is for the opening of three to four new Customs and Border Protection processing centers along the border, including one in El Paso.

Congresswoman Veronica Escobar (D-TX District 16) told ABC-7 she is already researching the proposal. We are “working with Homeland Security on creating a space in the new central processing centers so that there can be concurrent processing, to ease the burden on the community burden,” said Escobar.

Until those centers can be established, the Advisory Council recommends relieving ports of entry staff and Border Patrol agents from duties other than law enforcement,.

The Council is urging Congress to enact emergency legislation to speed up asylum processing and increase the number of immigration judges. Immigration courts are backlogged with thousands, if not tens of thousands of asylum cases.

Security council members are also calling for an end to “metering,” a process where asylum seekers present themselves to CBP officers at ports of entry, like bridges, given a number and told to return when their number is called.

Congresswoman Escobar says DHS should also fall under the microscope.

“I also feel that DHS needs major auditing. From my vantage point, coming in, brand new, fresh eyes, it’s a broken system at every point,” said Escobar.

Perhaps one of the recommendations which will garner a great deal of attention is establishing a shelter to process asylum claims from Central America in Guatemala, close to the Mexican border.

The council’s report says if these recommendations are followed, the surge of immigrants coming to our Southwester border will be reduced.

On Wednesday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it’s arresting and deporting fewer immigrants because the agency is devoting more resources to the surging numbers of migrant families crossing the southern border.

Acting Director Matthew Albence said Wednesday that ICE has made 14 percent fewer criminal arrests and 10 percent fewer removals of immigrants since October compared to the same period a year earlier.

Albence blamed the reassignment of hundreds of ICE staff to the U.S.-Mexico border, where the Border Patrol is apprehending thousands of families weekly. Many of them are parents and children fleeing Central America and seeking asylum.

Albence and acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan visited the border city of McAllen, Texas, on Wednesday to highlight what they called a humanitarian crisis.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT