The Obama administration is bracing for another surge of illegal immigrants into the United States next spring.
Even before President Obama delivered his executive amnesty announcement Thursday night, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials were putting together a strategy to address the situation next year, when more than 100,000 illegal immigrants are expected to cross the U.S.-Mexico border,
The Washington Examiner reported.
ICE officials say they hope to deter illegals from surging across the border by describing the holding facilities where many of them will be housed. Earlier this week, ICE announced construction of a new
2,400-bed center for the illegals in Dilley, Texas.
Officials hope that as word trickles back to Central America that illegals entering the United States will end up in these facilities and ultimately be returned to their home countries, they will decide that coming to the United States isn’t worth it after all.
“These facilities help ensure timely and effective removals that comply with our legal and international obligations while deterring others from taking this dangerous journey and illegally crossing into the United States,” acting ICE Enforcement Director Thomas S. Winkowski said.
But construction of these facilities has done little to halt the wave of illegal immigrants thus far. An estimated 60,000 illegal-immigrant minors are expected to enter the United States this year, and even more are expected in 2015.
For many illegals already in the United States, the president’s plan is seen as a sign of encouragement.
Some who do not qualify for the executive amnesty announced by the president Thursday night say they are buoyed by his comments and believe that eventually Congress will pass “comprehensive immigration reform” giving them amnesty as well.
“The president’s decision to come out and give an executive action means that there’s hope,” said Monica Sibri, an illegal alien who came to the United States from Ecuador after her 16th birthday,
told Newsweek. “I’m positive that if Congress sees him working . . . they will also pass a comprehensive immigration reform where I will qualify.”
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.