There was no change in border crossings in August:
Out of a total of 107,000, about 58,000 were caught trying to cross the border illegally. The rest were asylum seekers who presented themselves at border stations or gave themselves up after crossing between stations.
The term illegal should be reserved from criminal conduct. Unauthorized is a more accurate and more appropriate term.
That aside, if they are asylum seekers, are they in any way illegal or unauthorized?
Seems like a good point. 👍
Hmm. ‘Irregular’? ‘Without prior authorization’? Maybe ‘ad hoc’, since hardly anyone studies Latin anymore.
Technically, entering the US without authorization is illegal and, depending on the circumstances, can be a felony. Aside from that, though, as Kevin points out, about half of the entries were asylum seekers who presented themselves at a point of entry, so not illegal.