1 of 9 | A migrant walks along a road shadowed by the steel columns of the border wall separating Arizona and Mexico after crossing into the United States, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, near Lukeville, Ariz. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) 3 of 9 | A woman walks in a tent Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, after crossing into the United States near Lukeville, Ariz. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) 4 of 9 | Men wait in a holding area Friday, Dec. 15, 2023, at a Border Patrol station in Ajo, Ariz. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) LUKEVILLE, Ariz. (AP) — Hundreds of dates are written on concrete-filled steel columns erected along the U.S. border with Mexico to memorialize when the Border Patrol has repaired illicit openings in the would-be barriers. Yet no sooner are fixes made than another column is sawed, torched and chiseled for large groups of migrants to enter, usually with no agents in sight. The breaches stretch about 30 miles (48 kilometers) on a washboard gravel road west of Lukeville, an Arizona desert town that consists of an official border crossing, restaurant and duty-free shop. The repair dates are mostly since spring, when the flat desert region dotted with saguaro cactus became the busiest corridor for illegal crossings. A Border Patrol tour in Arizona for news organizations, including The Associated Press, showed improvements in custody conditions and processing times, but flows are overwhelming. The huge spike in migrants and resulting chaos at various border locations have increased frustration with the Biden administration’s immigration policies and put pressure on Congress to reach a deal on asylum. The numbers have nudged the White House and some congressional Democrats to consider major limits to asylum as part of a deal for Ukraine aid. As Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas left closed-door talks with congressional leaders […]