Illegal Immigration Is Changing. Border Security Is Still Catching Up

llegal immigration into the United States isn't what it used to be.

The prevailing assumption that Mexican migrants, mostly men, are streaming into the United States illegally in search of jobs is long outdated, the Obama administration said this week. Instead, it's overwhelmingly families from Central America who are being intercepted together at the border.

And this distinction between the shifting demographics at the border isn't just semantics. It's not so much an illegal immigration problem, but rather, a steady stream of asylum-seekers.

Related: U.S. Expands Asylum Program for Central American Children

U.S. officials have known for years that a significant number of Central American migrants are actually turning themselves in at Border Patrol stations and begging for protection. And because they're asylum-seekers, agents can't simply turn them away or immediately deport them. The United States has a legal obligation to accept the thousands of migrants until their asylum claims are processed.

The dynamic places strains an on already overburdened immigration system in which court cases are backlogged for years. But increasingly, the steady migration stemming from the Northern Triangle of Central America — Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador — exposes weak spots in U.S. immigration policy.

No matter how much the United States steps up security measures at the border, it has little impact on the government's legal requirement to provide at least temporary protection to migrants seeking asylum.

"Walls alone cannot prevent illegal migration," Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said in a statement Monday. "Ultimately, the solution is long-term investment in Central America to address the underlying push factors in the region."

For the second time on record, more Central Americans were seized along the U.S. border than Mexicans were in a single year, Johnson announced Monday.

Source---http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/immigration-border-crisis/illegal-immigration-changing-border-security-still-catching-n667916