Top US border official: 'The breaking point has arrived,' with 100,000 encounters in March

SAN ANTONIO — The top U.S. border official said Wednesday the number of people encountered and apprehended at the southern border will top 100,000 in March, the highest amount reported in one month in 12 years.

"Two weeks ago, I briefed the media and testified in Congress that immigration was at the breaking point. That breaking point has arrived this week at our border," Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan told reporters in El Paso, Texas, Wednesday.

"We are now on pace for more than 100,000 apprehensions and encounters with migrants in March, with 90 percent — 90,000 people — are instead almost guaranteed to remain in the U.S. indefinitely, regardless of the merits of their immigration or asylum claim," he said.

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