Federal officials stationed at the border might have predicted wrongly when they thought that this year, the number of mothers and children who enter the U.S. illegally would decline.
However, it is actually the opposite since a court statement from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official said last Thursday that there was an increase in the number of immigrant families hitting the U.S. borders in the previous month.
Ronald Vitiello, Deputy Border Patrol Chief, reported that despite the extreme warm weather, the number rose unexpectedly and this increasing trend may continue after a preliminary ruling from Judge Dolly Dee that prohibits detention of illegal immigrants was issued, NumbersUSA reported.
Judge Gee gave a ruling that the detention facilities in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are breaking the Flores agreement, which was signed in 1997 and sets standards on how immigrant children should be treated.
The detention facilities had locked doors, sharp increase in temperatures, and 24-hour lighting; and they hold people for more than five days — conditions that violated the agreement.
As a result, the judge would go for the shutting down of the family detention centers in the ICE.
The judge is allowing the Obama administration to provide an argument on the case and the administration said they are willing to contest the ruling to shut down the facilities.
Meanwhile, the release of the illegal immigrants from detention centers would only bring forth a new wave of illegal migration, according to Thursday court argument from the administration, Texas Tribune reported.
Federal lawyers said that if news on the immediate release would reach Central America, it would only lead to smugglers luring more people to cross the border between Texas and Mexico.
The government responded that the number of families apprehended at the border may have decreased by 55 percent since 2014, but this year, the number is still considered "substantially higher" than the ones seen in previous years.
