West Wing Reads: Over 1,000 Illegal Immigrants Apprehended in El Paso Sector, Largest Group Ever at Single Time

Over 1,000 Illegal Immigrants Apprehended in El Paso Sector, Largest Group Ever at Single Time “More than 1,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents near the U.S.-Mexico border early Wednesday -- the largest ever group of migrants ever apprehended at a single time,” John Roberts and Travis Fedschun report. “The fact is that [the Rio Grande Valley] is receiving caravan-equivalent numbers every seven days,” Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Patrol Agent Rodolfo Karisch said. Click here to read more.

“President Trump sent a message of strength and leadership Thursday night when he announced he will impose escalating tariffs on Mexico in a bold move to halt the flow of illegal immigrants and protect our national security,” National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd writes in Fox News. “The congressional inaction we are now witnessing is made worse by Mexico’s refusal to enforce its own immigration laws, which are actually much stronger than our own.”

“Mexico has been all too willing to allow its temporary trouble [to] become our permanent problem. These migrants move across Mexico, often in large caravans, with at least the tacit approval of our southern neighbor, and sometimes with actual active assistance,” Steve Cortes writes in RealClearPolitics. It is in no “way compassionate to encourage or tolerate lawlessness along a porous border, which has led to horrific human exploitation.”

“Americans have heard politicians talk about high drug prices for years . . . But the Trump administration isn’t offering up just talk — we’re delivering results,” Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar writes in The Kansas City Star. “In December for the first time in 46 years, the official government measure of inflation in drug prices actually dropped for all of 2018.”

“Looking across the Detroit River to Canada, U.S. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta on Wednesday urged the passage of a new trade deal between Canada, Mexico and the United States as a way to spur economic prosperity,” Breana Noble writes in The Detroit News. Emphasizing the new agreement’s labor protections, Secretary Acosta explained that NAFTA lacked such measures—causing automaker jobs to leave Michigan for Mexico. “If we can compete on an even playing field, we can win," he said.

In CNBC, Jeff Cox reports that the American economy grew by 3.1% in the first quarter, yet again beating Wall Street’s expectations. “In the bigger picture, growth easily surpassed what most economists had been expecting at the start of the year.”