Acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said last month that each week, about two miles of additional border wall is being built.
“[It’s] coming along aggressively,” McAleenan told Trump during a meeting at the White House on June 12. “By the end of next year, over 400 miles [will be built].”
The United States is dealing with a rising influx of illegal aliens, most of whom are traveling through Mexico from Central America.
Just last weekend, U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) agents said they arrested a sex offender and also foiled a maritime smuggling attempt.
The sex offender was detained after agents spotted a man approximately six miles north of the U.S.-Mexico International Boundary. The man was identified as a 53-year-old Honduran national who had no legal documentation. He was arrested and sent to a nearby station for processing.
After running record checks at the station, the man was revealed to have had a “criminal conviction out of New Hampshire for Aggravated Felonious Sexual Assault against a child,” according to CBP.
The smuggling attempt was foiled after a U.S. Coast Guard cutter intercepted a pleasure-craft vessel operating near Point Loma, California. During the initial interception, they observed one person on board, but after boarding the vessel, they found an additional 12.
“All onboard were suspected of attempting to enter the U.S. illegally and were transported to the USCG base on North Harbor Drive, San Diego,” CBP said. Agents later took into custody all 13 individuals.
The vast majority of those being detained by border patrol agents are children and family units from Central America that Border Patrol is forced to release quickly, despite the fact that 90 percent of them never show up for their subsequent immigration hearings.
Epoch Times reporter Charlotte Cuthbertson contributed to this report
From The Epoch Times
