Illegal border crossings to US from Mexico hit annual high of nearly 18,000.
The US and Mexican governments have issued travel warnings following the border crisis, while a number of states and cities have suspended their cooperation with federal immigration authorities, and cities such as San Francisco, Denver and Seattle have canceled mass immigration parades.
The government shutdown has added to the public pressure to keep immigrants out.
The US National Emergencies Act allows the government to make declarations of national security emergency, allowing the president to direct federal funds to protect the country against a threat or possible threat, if declared after he or she has attempted to make a deal with opposition in Congress, and failed.
“In a national emergency declaration the President may authorize the use of military forces, or any of the authorities enumerated in section 232 of title 50, United States Code, and the President also may use the funds made available to carry out such emergency activities in order to carry out such emergency activities,” the act states.
In an emergency declaration the US president can declare that a state of emergency is being declared or that there is a state of emergency and also can request for the use of any of the resources enumerated in the act.
The act also states that funding the declaration will only be available as long as the state of emergency, which is generally defined as an ‘extraordinary situation’, lasts.
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It’s not known whether President Trump has made any declarations of a national emergency since signing his executive order in late January.
The Associated Press has asked the White House for a response.
There has been a surge of illegal immigration at the US-Mexican border in recent weeks, although the number has been dropping as the number of migrants being sent back to Mexico has