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CBP Commissioner Calls U.S.-Mexico Border Situation A 'Crisis'

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Migrants wait for food in El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, March 27, 2019, in a pen erected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to process a surge of migrant families and unaccompanied minors. Earlier on Wednesday, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan announced the the Trump administration will temporarily reassign several hundred border inspectors. (Cedar Attanasio/AP)
Migrants wait for food in El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, March 27, 2019, in a pen erected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to process a surge of migrant families and unaccompanied minors. Earlier on Wednesday, Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan announced the the Trump administration will temporarily reassign several hundred border inspectors. (Cedar Attanasio/AP)

The head of Customs and Border Protection, Kevin McAleenan, says the situation at the southern border has reached a "breaking point."

"CBP is facing an unprecedented humanitarian and border security crisis all along our Southwest border — and nowhere has that crisis manifested more acutely than here in El Paso," McAleenan said on Wednesday.

Hundreds of agents from ports of entry are now being reassigned to the El Paso sector to help address a reported increase in migrant families crossing the U.S.-Mexico border seeking asylum. Here and Now's Robin Young speaks with Julián Aguilar (@nachoaguilar), an immigration and border security reporter for the Texas Tribune in El Paso, Texas.

This segment aired on March 28, 2019.

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