The US Secretary of Homeland Security is set to visit
the southern border in early January amid a surge of
migrant crossings.
Alejandro Mayorkas is scheduled to visit Eagle Pass,
TX for a meeting with federal and local officials.
Now it comes on the heels of his visit alongside
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Mexico City earlier this
week to discuss the influx of Mexico's president and his
cabinet. December saw more than 225,000 migrant encounters at the
border.
That's the largest number in more than two decades.
The number of unaccompanied migrant children crossing into the US
has spiked in recent years,
leaving thousands in the custody of the federal government.
There are currently 11,700 migrant children in US custody.
That's according to data from the Health Department and Homeland
Security.
The number of kids in custody has increased 6.5%
since December 1st.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott says his state has bused more
than 92,000 migrants to other states since April of last
year operating.
Lone Star, the name of Abbott's busing directive,
has bused 10s of thousands of migrants to so-called sanctuary
cities across the country.
Last week, the Republican governor signed a controversial state law
which gives local law enforcement the power to arrest migrants
and give judges the ability to issue orders to remove
migrants from the US On Thursday,
the Justice Department threatened to sue Texas over the new
law.