Asylum claims soar 67 percent at U.S. border

The number of migrants demanding asylum at the U.S. border soared 67 percent in 2018, Homeland Security officials said Monday, swamping an already overloaded system and fueling a testy debate on Capitol Hill over how the government is responding. Both the official border crossings and Border Patrol agents who patrol between the ports of entry reported massive increases, and authorities said the numbers could have been even higher but there’s just not enough space to process and hold people, particularly at the ports.-- More...