Homeland Security Chief Visiting Texas Border
MISSION (AP) - U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is to tour the Texas-Mexico border and receive a briefing on border security operations in South Texas.
Johnson's Tuesday visit would follow the Border Patrol's release Friday of the final 2013 immigrant arrest numbers, which showed a 16 percent increase. The Border Patrol's Rio Grande Valley sector, which encompasses the southernmost tip of Texas, has become the busiest segment of the Southwest border for illegal immigration.
The increase has largely been driven by Central American immigrants entering the United States illegally in South Texas.
The budget bill signed by President Barack Obama on Friday includes funding for 2,000 additional customs officers at the nation's ports of entry.
Johnson is scheduled to make a similar visit to Tucson, Ariz., on Wednesday.
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