Old dog, new trick: Flood of Mexicans asking for ‘asylum’ being waved across U.S. border

Old dog, new trick: Flood of Mexicans asking for ‘asylum’ being waved across U.S. border

Illegals Crossing BorderThose old enough to remember Groucho Marx’s TV quiz show “You Bet Your Life” will recall that contestants were told that if they uttered the “secret word,” they would win $10,000.

It appears that thousands of Mexicans have learned the secret word that yields another prize: undocumented free access to the United States. That secret word is asylumLee Stranahan writes at Breitbart.com:

At the Otay crossing near the San Diego border last Monday, about 200 people coming from Mexico gained entry to the United States all using the same key phrase; they claimed they had a ‘credible fear’ of drug cartels.

That number, 200, seem like a drop in the bucket until you extrapolate it over the long term. Stranahan does the math: “200 people a day equals 73,000 people a year — close to three times the total number received all year, at all border crossings.” [Emphasis added]

Phonenix Fox affiliate KSAZ interviewed border agents at the Otay crossing. One individual who did not want to be identified on camera said, “We are being overwhelmed,” explaining:

They are being told if they come across the border, when they come up to the border and they say certain words, they will be allowed into the country.

One person who did agree to his name being used was Pete Nunez, a former U.S. Attorney and immigration expert, “This will swamp the system,” adding:

It’s a huge loophole. There has to be a policy change, something implemented, an emergency implementation that will stop this, or otherwise we will have thousands coming in.

Unfortunately, Lee Stranhan notes, that has already happened. Here are figures over the past several years, as cited by the AP:

According [sic] draft testimony for USCIS Associate Director Joseph Langlois that was to be submitted for a congressional hearing on asylum requests last month, USCIS received more than 19,119 asylum requests through the end of May. The agency anticipates receiving more than 28,600 by the end of the fiscal year.

According to the testimony, during the 2009 budget year the agency received just 5,369 such requests.

LU Staff

LU Staff

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