Surge of children crossing border down dramatically

The latest Border Patrol statistics show the number of unaccompanied children from Central America entering the U.S. illegally is down significantly compared with the record surge that occurred last year.

The Border Patrol has apprehended 26,685 unaccompanied children from Central America through June 30 of this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, 2014.

That is a 54% drop compared with the 57,478 unaccompanied children from Central America apprehended by the Border Patrol during the same nine-month period last year.

Apprehensions of children entering the country with relatives are also down, by 55%, compared with last year, according to statistics released Tuesday by Customs and Border Protection.

The Rio Grande Valley in south Texas, which remains the most popular crossing point for Central American migrants, accounted for the bulk of the decrease in Border Patrol apprehensions.

A year ago, the Border Patrol in south Texas was overwhelmed by a record surge in children and families fleeing poverty and violence in Central America and traveling through Mexico and crossing the border illegally into the U.S. The surge created a humanitarian crisis for the United States and set off a political firestorm for President Obama's administration.

Border Patrol statistics show that the number of unaccompanied Central American children apprehended in the Rio Grande Valley fell 63% through June 30 from 42,146 last year to 15,613 during the first nine months of this year.

Apprehensions of Central American families fell 59% from 42,363 to 17,179.

During a Senate hearing earlier Tueday, Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, reiterated criticism that Obama's 2012 program offering deportation protections to undocumented immigrants brought to the U.S. illegally as children helped spur the surge in unaccompanied children and families from Central America.