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US border chief: Surge of immigrant families not letting up

U.S. Customs and Border Protection chief Gil Kerlikowske stands with agents as he waits to address the media at a temporary holding facility, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016, in Donna, Texas. The tent facility is primarily being used as a temporary holding site for children and families who have entered the county illegally. Kerlikowske said the number of apprehensions along the southwestern border can be close to 2,000 a day, with most people turning themselves in. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection chief Gil Kerlikowske stands with agents as he waits to address the media at a temporary holding facility, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016, in Donna, Texas. The tent facility is primarily being used as a temporary holding site for children and families who have entered the county illegally. Kerlikowske said the number of apprehensions along the southwestern border can be close to 2,000 a day, with most people turning themselves in. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) U.S. Customs and Border Protection chief Gil Kerlikowske stands with agents as he waits to address the media at a temporary holding facility, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016, in Donna, Texas. The tent facility is primarily being used as a temporary holding site for children and families who have entered the county illegally. Kerlikowske said the number of apprehensions along the southwestern border can be close to 2,000 a day, with most people turning themselves in. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

By Associated Press 1 min read

DONNA, Texas (AP) – The U.S. Customs and Border Protection chief says the surge of Central American families seeking asylum at the southwestern U.S. border is not letting up.

Gil Kerlikowske says apprehensions at the border can reach nearly 2,000 a day, with most people turning themselves in. He says November figure is as high as October’s, which reached 46,195. The precise number will be posted next week.

Kerlikowske’s comments Wednesday came as he toured a temporary holding in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley that’s opening Friday. It will process up to 500 people a day. The white canopy tent is surrounded by a barbed wire-topped fence.

Kerlikowske toured a similar facility near El Paso on Tuesday.

The influx of Central Americans fleeing violence and poverty in their homelands began in 2014.