Federal agents are arresting a record number of individuals on the terrorist watchlist at the northern U.S. border, including a Jordanian national with ties to terrorism who recently was removed from the country after illegally entering from Canada.
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Border Patrol apprehensions of illegal border crossers in Texas dropped 51% in one year, according to federal data. The stark decline comes after Gov. Greg Abbott expanded Operation Lone Star border security efforts in the state.
In fiscal 2023, Border Patrol agents reported 1,045,655 apprehensions of illegal border crossers in five U.S. Customs and Border Protection sectors in Texas, excluding those apprehended in New Mexico which fall into one of these sectors, in fiscal 2023. In fiscal 2024, the number dropped to 534,333, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data and exclusive data obtained by The Center Square.
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A minimum of 1,525,210 foreign nationals illegally crossed the Southwest U.S. border in fiscal 2024, according to preliminary data The Center Square exclusively obtained from a Border Patrol agent on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.
The data excludes Office of Field Operations data, gotaway data (those who illegally entered and evaded capture), and northern border apprehension data, meaning the overall number is likely much higher.
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On Tuesday, a federal appeals court in New Orleans ruled that illegal aliens do not have the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment, due to the fact that they are not American citizens.
As reported by Fox News, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals determined that federal law prohibiting illegal aliens from owning firearms is legal, as the Constitution does not apply to anyone who has entered the United States illegally.
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Border Patrol agents continue to release violent criminals into the U.S. who are later arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers thousands of miles away. While numerous examples exist, in three recent cases, Border Patrol agents in Arizona released violent criminals who were later arrested nearly 3,000 miles away in New England.
On June 12, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations-Boston agents arrested an Ecuadorian illegally living in Northampton, Massachusetts, who was wanted by Ecuadorian authorities.
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More than 241,000 people were apprehended after illegally entering the U.S. in May, according to newly released data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
May’s numbers push the total number of apprehensions and encounters of illegal border crossers to more than 2.2 million in the first eight months of fiscal 2024.
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U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07), who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, commemorated the U.S. Border Patrol’s 100th anniversary on Tuesday by introducing a resolution in honor of the agency.
Congress established The Border Patrol under former President Calvin Coolidge on May 28, 1924.
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The number of known “gotaways” – or illegal migrants who evaded Border Patrol – exploded under the Biden administration by more than 340% from where it was at the highest point of the Trump administration, according to data published Wednesday.
In fiscal year 2023, more than 670,000 gotaways entered the United States, per Customs and Border Protection Data that Fox News obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request.
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Despite being stretched thin and understaffed, Border Patrol agents at the northern border continue to apprehend a record number of illegal border crossers.
In the busiest northern border sector of Swanton, Border Patrol agents made history by apprehending the greatest number of illegal border crossers in sector history of 1,109 in March, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. While the numbers are significantly lower than those apprehended at the southwest border, they are out of the ordinary for the northern border and its busiest sector. By comparison, agents apprehended 37 illegal border crossers in March 2021.
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Just over half of Americans now say they would support the mass deportation of illegal migrants, a poll released Thursday found.
The 51 percent who approve of the action includes 42 percent of Democrats, as well as 68 percent of Republicans and 46 percent of independents, according to the Axios Vibes/The Harris Poll survey. Approximately two-thirds of respondents believe illegal immigration is a legitimate crisis as President Joe Biden’s administration has seen record numbers of border crossings.
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Connecticut law enforcement officials released an illegal alien convicted of sex crimes against a minor while ignoring a detainer request, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
ICE agents apprehended a 27-year-old Ecuadorian national convicted of indecent assault and second degree assault of a Connecticut child earlier this month, the agency announced in a press release on Wednesday. The agency is faulting local officials for releasing the alien, despite an immigration detainer placed on him.
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An Afghan migrant on the FBI terrorist watch list spent almost a year in the U.S. after being apprehended and released by border patrol agents, according to news reports.
He was arrested in February, then released last month again by an immigration judge who was not told he was a national security threat, according to NBC News.
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The number of Chinese nationals illegally entering the U.S. – primarily single, military age men – has skyrocketed under the Biden administration.
Of the more than 140,000 Chinese who’ve illegally entered the country since fiscal 2021, one recently was apprehended at a Marine Corps base at the southwest border.
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Immigration is now the top concern among Americans as President Joe Biden’s administration continues to see record amounts of illegal border crossings, a Tuesday poll from Gallup found.
The issue was previously ranked second at 20%, behind only “government” at 21%, in Gallup’s January survey. Americans now say immigration is top of mind at 28%, followed by 20% who chose “government” and 12% who tapped the “economy in general,” according to the poll.
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With a tidal wave of illegal immigrants crossing the southern border under President Biden daily and Congress locked in a battle over border security, zealots pushing open borders are becoming increasingly out of touch with the American people.
Under Biden’s reckless Open Borders agenda, nine million illegals have entered the country through the southern border, including 1.8+ million who escaped Border Patrol and are presumably living in the U.S. without documentation.
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According to the website Statista, the United States has the third largest standing “Army” in the world. The website says that we have 1.3 million soldiers under arms. By “soldiers,” they’re referring to all of our armed forces—Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force. Third largest in the world. Not bad, if you’re into measuring things. China and India are the only countries with larger militaries. Russia has one about the same size as us, as does North Korea.
In addition to our active force, Statista says we have over 760,000 reservists attached to our armed forces. For those unfamiliar, a reservist is also a soldier (generic term) who can theoretically be called into duty to do things the active forces do. They’re called reservists because they are the first line of replenishment for the active force. Reservists serve in various capacities in all of the branches of the US military. They train once a month with their unit and have a two-week annual training event where they go to an installation and ensure their skills are ready for wartime. Some call them weekend warriors. I call them heroes—many or most have other jobs and serve our great country because they want to serve. Of key importance is that all of these service members are federally authorized and work at the direction of the president.
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The nearly 10,000 border patrol agents eligible for retirement by 2028 and static recruitment numbers threaten to undermine future efforts to secure the Southern border, even as the current immigration crisis escalates.
By 2028, a total of 9,828 current border patrol agents will be eligible for retirement, according to numbers provided to Transport Dive by a Customs and Border Protection official. The agency, which has been plagued by a recruitment shortfalls for years, says it is preparing to deal with the fallout if even a fraction of the eligible agents retire on schedule.
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The House Homeland Security Committee will begin marking up impeachment articles against Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Tuesday.
The markup process will focus on Mayorkas’ alleged “high crimes and misdemeanors,” the committee announced Wednesday in a statement shared with the DCNF. The committee’s push to impeach Biden’s DHS secretary involves his handling of the southern border, which has been the center of record illegal immigration under his watch.
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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is once again calling on Congress to impeach Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas for failing to secure U.S. borders as the U.S. House continues its proceedings this week in an effort to do so.
The U.S. House Homeland Security Committee is scheduled to hold its second hearing on Thursday targeting Mayorkas.
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Border Patrol agents are quietly applauding Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s effort to seize property along the border, several of them told the Daily Caller News Foundation on the condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak publicly.
The Texas Department of Public Safety seized the property of Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas, the city’s mayor, Rolando Salinas, said in a statement posted to Facebook Thursday. The Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a Supreme Court filing hours after the decision that Texas National Guardsmen are blocking the Border Patrol from accessing the area, where they have a staging area and boat ramp.
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by Virginia Allen More than 85% of the illegal aliens encountered at the border are released into the interior of the U.S., according to reports. Following a private meeting between Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Border Patrol agents in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday, sources in the room told Fox News’ Bill Melugin that “Mayorkas admitted that the current release rate for migrants caught crossing the border illegally is ‘above 85%.’” BREAKING: Per three Border Patrol sources who were in the room, while meeting privately with agents in Eagle Pass, TX today, DHS Sec. Mayorkas admitted that the current release rate for migrants caught crossing the border illegally is “above 85%”. I’m awaiting comment from DHS. — Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 8, 2024 News Nation border correspondent Ali Bradley said she spoke with sources that confirmed Mayorkas had made the statement. In December, Customs and Border Protection encountered a record 302,000 illegal immigrants at or between ports of entry along the southern border. If 85% of those encountered at the southern border in December were released into the U.S., that totals more than 256,000 people, roughly the same population as Laredo, Texas, where many illegal aliens are crossing. The number of illegal aliens released into the…
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As another Republican congressional delegation arrived in Eagle Pass, Texas, Wednesday to hold another news conference and meet local residents, many Texans living at the border say they are fed up and want Congress to shut down the border.
If Congress continues to use taxpayer dollars to fund policies that facilitate the border crisis, they argue, Congress is complicit in creating it and a national security threat.
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The Biden administration has removed comparatively low numbers of Chinese nationals in recent years despite record levels of migrants from China crossing the southern border illegally, according to federal data.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recorded 288 removals of Chinese nationals in fiscal year 2023, 127 in fiscal year 2022 and 138 in fiscal year 2021, according to the data. All the while, Border Patrol recorded 24,000 encounters of Chinese migrants crossing the southern border illegally in fiscal year 2023, 1,970 in fiscal year 2022 and 323 in fiscal year 2021, according to CBP data.
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Some Border Patrol agents will now get increased overtime pay thanks to an amendment pushed by Arizona Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, as well as Republicans and Democrats.
The increase put into the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act applies to GS-12 agents who will get 50 percent more of their “hourly rate of basic pay or extra ‘half-time’ pay for any hour(s) worked between 81-100 per pay period.” The boost is in addition to their normal hourly rate, the National Border Patrol Council explained in a statement.
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Detroit has become overwhelmed by a surge in migrants needing shelter, according to The Detroit News.
Shelters supporting migrants in Detroit say they’re working long hours with little resources to help, according to The Detroit News. The city is experiencing a surge amid record encounters of migrants crossing the southern border illegally.
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U.S. officials are encountering an increasing number of migrants from the African nation of Senegal who are taking advantage of a new pathway to reach the southern border, a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation Wednesday.
There are groups posing as travel agencies in the capital of Senegal that help migrants get to the U.S.-Mexico border by obtaining a visa to travel through the European Union, the spokesperson said. Border Patrol had more than 23,000 migrants in custody as of Tuesday evening, according to internal agency data obtained by the DCNF.
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As part of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security’s investigation into the “dereliction of duty” of U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, it and members of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability conducted interviews with eight U.S. Border Patrol chief patrol agents and one deputy chief patrol agent.
The interviews were conducted to obtain more information about operations in their sectors as part of the committee’s ongoing investigation “into the causes, costs, and consequences of the unprecedented crisis at America’s borders, and the role of Secretary Mayorkas in facilitating and maintaining this crisis.”
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by Jennie Taer Border Patrol encounters of migrants crossing the southern border illegally surpassed 547,000 less than three months into fiscal year 2024, according to preliminary internal data obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation. The number of encounters, which reached 547,593 on Thursday morning, is higher than the number of encounters recorded in the first three months of any fiscal year before President Joe Biden took office, according to federal data going back to 1999. Between October and December 2022, Border Patrol recorded 634,832 encounters of illegal migrants, according to federal data. Border Patrol recorded 153,613 encounters during the first three months of fiscal year 2019, and 101,779 encounters during that same time period in fiscal year 2020, according to federal data. It recorded 209,342 encounters between October and December in fiscal year 2021 and 496,730 encounters those same months in fiscal year 2022. As of early Thursday, Border Patrol had more than 24,000 illegal migrants in custody nationwide, according to the data, which showed that three sectors of the southern border, Del Rio, Rio Grande Valley and Tucson, exceeded holding capacity. On Wednesday, Border Patrol had released 8,388 illegal migrants into the country. The Del Rio sector of Texas, which…
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Border Patrol had more than 23,000 migrants in custody as of Tuesday evening while releasing more than 6,000 others into the interior of the country, according to internal Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The latest data provide a window into a record daily totals of illegal immigration at the southern border in recent days. Three border sectors, Del Rio, Rio Grande Valley and Tucson, exceeded capacity as of Tuesday night, according to the data.
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The immigration court backlog increased by a whopping one million cases in a single year as the surge at the southern border continues, according to a new report from Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC).
The number of pending cases in U.S. immigration courts reached three million in November, marking a new record, TRAC, which analyzes data provided by the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR), reported Monday. The backlog is expected to only worsen with the continued record flow of illegal immigration at the southern border.
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Border Patrol agents arrested more illegal aliens on the terrorist watchlist in October than over the course of three years under the Trump administration, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data updated Tuesday.
Border Patrol recorded 13 encounters of individuals on the terror watchlist at both the northern and southern borders of the U.S. in October alone, according to the data. Encounters of illegal immigrants on the terror watchlist between fiscal years 2018 and 2020, during most of Donald Trump’s presidency, added up to 12.
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Border Patrol encounters of migrants crossing the northern border illegally hit a two-decade high in October, according to recently updated Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.
There were 1,521 such encounters recorded in October alone, according to the data. The last time monthly encounters surpassed that number was in August 2001, when Border Patrol recorded 2,016, according to federal data.
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More than 775,000 people illegally crossed the border into Arizona in fiscal 2023, according to official U.S. Customs and Border Protection data and preliminary gotaway data.
This includes 576,912 apprehensions officially reported by CBP and at least 198,110 gotaways reported by Border Patrol agents alone, according to the preliminary data The Center Square obtained from a Border Patrol agent.
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There were over 3.2 million people who entered the U.S. illegally nationwide in fiscal 2023, the most in recorded U.S. history, according to the latest data published by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Combined with gotaway data only reported by Border Patrol agents at the southwest border, illegal border crossers totaled at least 3,970,318 in fiscal 2023.
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Federal border authorities apprehending Palestinian migrants crossing into the U.S. illegally are counting them as other nationalities, according to the former chief of Border Patrol and a current agency official who is familiar with the process.
In addition to the current and former agency officials that confirmed Palestinians aren’t classified as such when they’re apprehended and processed at the border, the DCNF obtained screenshots of Border Patrol’s internal system showing that Palestine is not a category and that searching for it results in “no matches.” Federal intelligence officials have warned that Palestinian terrorists could be crossing the southern border and to be on the lookout for them, according to an internal Customs and Border Protection (CBP) memo first obtained by the DCNF.
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Investigative journalist Ben Bergquam of Real America’s Voice and Frontline America has been documenting the chaos on the U.S. border with Mexico, especially along Arizona’s border. On Tuesday, he stopped by the border in Lukeville, where the Border Patrol told him there are large numbers of Syrians and Pakistanis illegally coming over the border.
“That’s what we’re doing right now,” Bergquam said in a video taken at the border showing migrants in tents. “Again. Day after day after day. You saw the footage I just put out two days ago. This is today. And it’ll be like this tomorrow and the next day and the next day. And this is one point on our border and it’s like this across our entire border.”
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At least 255,212 foreign nationals were apprehended or reported evading capture after illegally entering the southwest border in September, according to preliminary Border Patrol data obtained by The Center Square.
This includes at least 222,009 apprehensions and 33,203 gotaways. “Gotaways” is the official U.S. Customs and Border Protection term that refers to the number of people known and reported to illegally enter the U.S. between ports of entry who intentionally try to evade capture and don’t return to Mexico.
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Police in Bemidji, Minnesota, found 11 illegal immigrants in a local house after a minor was allegedly sexually assaulted, the Bemidji Police Department said in a recent Facebook post.
The Sanford Bemidji Medical Center’s Emergency Department alerted the Bemidji Police Department to the situation involving a girl that stated she’d been sexually assaulted, according to the Facebook post. Authorities arrested Oscar Ernesto Luna, 22, who is now charged with first degree criminal sexual conduct, and handed the 11 illegal immigrants to Border Patrol.
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Trade across the U.S.-Mexico border is being severely hampered due to an ongoing migrant crisis that is threatening businesses’ supply chains, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The southern border is facing a massive influx of migrants crossing into the U.S. illegally, with the U.S. Border Patrol reporting that a record high of 22,000 illegal migrants were being held in custody on Tuesday as opposed to just 7,696 on June 8. Trade that U.S. companies rely on for their supply chains is being hampered due to delays at points of entry that are being shut down by Border Patro to address the surge, according to the WSJ.
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The number of illegal migrants in Border Patrol custody nationwide surpassed 22,000 on Tuesday evening, according to internal Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Border Patrol across all sectors had almost 17,000 illegal migrants in custody on the evening of August 10 compared to 7,696 on the evening of June 8, according to internal CBP data previously obtained by the DCNF. Additionally, there were 8,923 migrant encounters by CBP on Monday and 7,730 illegal migrants released into the country, according to the new data.
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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on Tuesday published an internal Border Patrol email her office obtained that provides guidelines to release foreign nationals being held at Customs and Border Patrol processing centers because they are at near full capacity, at full capacity or are already over capacity.
President Joe Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “have become so brazen that they are now implementing mass-release quotas for immigrants surging into our country,” Moody said. “As a federal judge already recognized, these releases are unlawful, yet the Biden administration is ordering Border Patrol to release even more immigrants into the interior.” Moody is referring to a lawsuit Florida brought against the administration and won.
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Tennessee U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07), who is Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, delivered opening remarks Wednesday during the Committee’s full hearing to examine the current crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border and how it has “devastated the lives and livelihoods of Americans and migrants alike.”
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Among the more than 8.6 million people who’ve illegally entered the U.S., at least nearly 1.6 million are “gotaways.”
Gotaways is the official term used by Border Patrol agents to describe foreign nationals who illegally enter the U.S. between ports of entry and don’t return to Mexico or Canada.
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Border agents were shot at Thursday from Mexico while apprehending a group of migrants in Texas, according to Border Report.
No one was reported injured or hit by any bullets, according to Border Report. Additionally, there’s no one believed to be apprehended in Mexico related to the incident.
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Border Patrol agents in the Miami Sector continue to apprehend foreign nationals with criminal records who are already inland, living in Florida towns.
Miami Sector Chief Border Patrol Agent Walter Slosar said that agents working with law enforcement officers in Fort Pierce apprehended a Honduran national illegally in the U.S. The Honduran was in possession of firearms, miscellaneous drugs and U.S. currency. He was apprehended during a traffic stop.
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A man died on June 23 after climbing the secondary International Boundary Fence near San Luis, Arizona.
On the evening of June 22, remote video surveillance system operators observed four individuals climbing the fence. U.S. Border Patrol agents were then dispatched to the area, according to a July 24 news release.
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Border Patrol has arrested 143 illegal migrants on the terror watchlist in fiscal year 2023, surpassing 2022’s total by roughly 25%, according to federal data updated Tuesday.
In all of fiscal year 2022, Border Patrol nabbed 98 individuals whose names appeared on the terror watchlist, according to the data. The data include both southern and northern border apprehensions of individuals on the terror watchlist.
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Apprehension and gotaway data for June, which was significantly lower than previous months, is deceptive, a Customs and Border Patrol agent as well as the former acting CBP Chief and former Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan told The Center Square.
They spoke in response to lower numbers reported for the month by Border Patrol agents that total over 135,000, which is significantly lower than previous months even though large numbers of people are still coming through.
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In a campaign stop in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis presented his border security plan as part of his platform to win the Republican nomination for president.
The plan includes reinstating several policies implemented by the Trump administration, including ending catch and release, reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy, among others. His plan also includes using the U.S. military to work with Border Patrol agents “on day one, and they’ll continue to help until the [border] wall is finished,” according to a campaign document obtained by The Center Square.
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House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green possesses evidence that some Chinese migrants that crossed the southern border illegally and were released into the U.S. under the Biden administration are connected to the Chinese Communist Party and China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), he told the Daily Caller News Foundation during a press conference Wednesday.
The intelligence came directly from a Border Patrol sector chief, Green told the DCNF. Border Patrol has seen a roughly 393 percent increase in illegal Chinese migrants at the southern border, with 9,711 Chinese migrant encounters recorded between October 2022 and April.
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