Obama border patrol chief: Border crisis 'absolutely' a national emergency
Former Obama administration Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan on the mounting debate over immigration reform.
Mark Morgan, a career FBI official who served as Border Patrol chief for the Obama administration, told FOX Business on Thursday that the U.S.-Mexico border is undeniably in a state of crisis.
“It’s absolutely a national emergency,” he said during an interview with Maria Bartiromo on “Mornings with Maria,” referring to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements' (ICE) release of hundreds of migrants detained at the U.S.-Mexico border because of overcrowding at detention facilities.
“ICE doesn’t have any more room,” he said. “Now border patrol agents are having to release illegal aliens into ... the United States --- they’re overwhelmed.”
In Morgan’s opinion, loopholes in asylum laws are largely to blame. He said in order to deal with the immediate crisis the government should revamp asylum laws to hold detainees in their country of origin until their claim can be heard.
“They know because of our asylum laws, they step one foot on American soil, they are allowed in never to be heard from again,” he said.
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Border agents, last month, arrested more than 66,000 migrants attempting to illegally enter the country. This marked the highest number of arrests at the border in a decade. Morgan said although many Central Americans are said to be fleeing their countries in order to escape violence and oppression, many are actually seeking economic equality and family reunification.
“The intelligence will show you they’re not fleeing violence and persecution like a lot of the talking points," he said. "Actually violence in Guatemala, [and] all Central American countries, [is] way down.”