The new head of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), sworn into his new role Monday, is an open borders extremist and left-wing activists for causes like Black Lives Matter (BLM).
Former Tucson Police Chief Christopher Magnus is the new CBP, which former Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and immigration hardliner Tom Homan described as the “final nail in the coffin for immigration enforcement.”
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Yuma, Arizona, Mayor Douglas Nicholls declared a city state of emergency last week due to the numbers of migrants entering the city.
Yuma has been seeing “unprecedented numbers of migrants entering the city prior to being processed and released by Border Patrol,” according to a press release.
The city has less than 100,000 residents, but in five days last week, more than 6,000 illegal migrants traveled from Mexico through the Yuma area into the United States.
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Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey sent the Arizona National Guard and law enforcement officers to the Arizona border with Mexico near Yuma to address a surge in border crossings, which Arizona Rep. Tim Dunn (R-Yuma) has called for and believes will help combat the drug cartels, but not the number of migrants crossing due to the Biden administration’s policies.
Dunn told The Arizona Sun Times that although only the federal government is allowed by law to deal with the migrants, Arizona troops and law enforcement officers can perform other tasks for the Border Patrol, freeing them up to handle the influx of migrants. He said the migrants “do want to be checked in to the Border Patrol. The last leg of their trip is to get a free ride to another part of the country — the Border Patrol is performing an Uber function.”
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While most Americans are legally traveling to visit relatives and celebrate during the holidays, Border Patrol agents are being inundated with illegal travelers arriving at the U.S. southern border from more than 100 different countries this year.
Border Patrol agents assigned to Del Rio Sector in Texas, for example, arrested people coming from African and former Soviet countries over Thanksgiving, as well as known sex offenders from Mexico and Nicaragua.
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Border Patrol agents in the Yuma Sector on Wednesday apprehended drugs and $10,000 in cash from a suspect who attempted to escape law enforcement.
Giang Van Thi Slaughter, who is a Lawfully Admitted Permanent Resident (LAPR), refused to pull over when agents initiated a traffic stop.
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While most Americans were legally traveling to visit relatives and celebrate Thanksgiving enjoying a few days off of work, Border Patrol agents were hard at work in Texas inundated with illegal travelers arriving at the U.S. southern border.
Border Patrol agents assigned to Del Rio Sector in Texas, for example, arrested people coming from African and former Soviet countries over Thanksgiving, as well as known sex offenders from Mexico and Nicaragua.
From Nov. 23-27, agents apprehended six Eritrean nationals who traveled from the northeast African country to the southern U.S. after the Biden administration halted immigration laws established by Congress.
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Martin Barrios, a supervisory border patrol agent in the Tucson sector, was killed in the line of duty on Monday, according to a tweet from the Chief of the U.S Border Patrol.
Barrios served in the organization for almost two decades, beginning in 2003.
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An agent with the Tucson Sector U.S. Border Patrol, Anibal A. Perez, died in the line of duty, the group announced on Thursday.
The officer, who passed away earlier this month, had served the organization since 2006.
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Amnesty International USA is campaigning to reform the immigration system by circulating debunked claims that border patrol agents used whips to engage illegal Haitian migrants.
The advocacy organization launched a Facebook ad campaign Friday featuring several ads advancing claims that mounted Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents used whips to disperse Haitian migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. The ads, each of which have an estimated audience size of over one million Facebook users and one of which has reached over 50,000 views, show images of CBP agents on horseback apprehending Haitian migrants.
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Federal law enforcement officers arrested more than 17,300 migrants with past convictions of other crimes attempting to cross the border illegally last fiscal year. That’s up from 9,447 in fiscal 2020.
The federal government’s fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.
An additional 8,979 in fiscal 2021 were of migrants with outstanding arrest warrants against them from other law enforcement agencies.
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Minnesota Rep. Pete Stauber has demanded that the Biden Administration halt the COVID vaccine mandate for those serving as Border Patrol agents. Stauber said in a tweet, “Border Patrol agents are heroes [and] shouldn’t be fired over their vaccination status. We need every one of them to address the Biden Border Crisis.”
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The National Sheriff’s Association and the Arizona Sheriff’s Association oppose the Biden administration’s nomination of Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus to be the next commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Both associations sent letters to President Joe Biden expressing their opposition and have asked their U.S. senators to vote against his nomination.
Currently, Troy Miller is serving as the Acting Commissioner for CBP, an agency with more than 60,000 employees and a budget of over $15 billion. Of the 60,000 employees, roughly 45,000 are sworn CBP agents assigned to 328 ports of entry or the borders.
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The Biden administration is considering paying illegal immigrant families who were separated at the border under former President Donald Trump’s policies up to $450,000 per person, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The illegal immigrants filed a lawsuit claiming the federal government detention resulted in major psychological trauma, according to the WSJ. Most of the families were made up of one parent and child who could receive around $1 million in payouts, though the amount could vary by family depending on the circumstances.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) represents some of the families involved in the lawsuit against the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security (DHS) and Health and Human Services, the WSJ reported. Around 940 families filed claims and the number of those who might qualify for the settlement is expected to be lower.
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Rep. Andy Biggs (R-05-AZ) and Rep. James Comer (R-01-KY) sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas demanding answers regarding new “Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Law” that they assert hamper the ability of ICE agents to enforce immigration laws. They warn that the new guidelines will restrict enforcement even more than the interim guidance which was implemented in January, which caused arrests and removals to plummet by more than 60 percent.
Biggs called to remove Mayorkas in a statement accompanying the letter, “These guidelines are an affront to the rule of law and will only further incentivize illegal immigration. Instead of preventing ICE from enforcing the law, the Biden administration should be empowering them to keep our country safe. Moreover, Secretary Mayorkas should be removed from his position of authority immediately for implementing crisis-creating policies.”
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Arizona Rep. Jake Hoffman (R-Queen Creek) sent a letter to Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich requesting a legal opinion on whether the Biden administration has failed its obligations at the U.S. border with Mexico. He is concerned there is an “invasion” taking place due to the vast numbers of illegal immigrants entering the country, the increase in crime, and the control the drug cartels have over areas along the border.
He wrote, “In light of the efforts by the new federal administration of President Joe Biden to encourage, rather than discourage, illegal aliens coming to our country, including by crossing the Arizona border illegally, I am writing to ask for your formal legal opinion of whether or not the federal government has failed — intentionally or unintentionally — to uphold its obligations to protect our state from invasion under Article IV, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution.”
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In one year, Customs and Border Protection agents encountered triple the number of people entering the U.S. illegally compared to the previous year. From October 2020 to September 2021, 1,734,686 people were encountered at the U.S. southern border.
From October 2019 to September 2020, that number was 458,088.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Mayor of Maury County, Andy Ogles in studio to weigh in on the incoming migrant caravan surge heading towards the United States border.
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The United States recorded 192,001 encounters with immigrants last month along the country’s southwest border with Mexico, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
The agency on Friday reported 1.7 million apprehensions along the entire U.S. southern border in fiscal 2021, which ended Sept. 30.
The agency reported 26% percent of the encounters in September involved individuals who had at least one prior encounter in the previous 12 months. Last month’s overall number marked a 9% decrease compared to August.
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Border officials encountered the third-highest number of migrants at the southern border on record, reaching more than 1.7 million apprehensions, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
Border officials reported 192,000 encounters with migrants attempting to illegally enter the U.S. through the southwest border in September, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data. A record high of more than 213,500 migrants were apprehended in July and another 209,800 were encountered in August.
“CBP encounters along the Southwest border declined in September from the prior month, and a majority of noncitizens encountered were expelled under Title 42,” Acting CBP Commissioner Troy Miller said in a statement. “The men and women of CBP continued to rise admirably to the challenge, despite the strain associated with operating during a global pandemic that has claimed far too many lives among our frontline personnel.”
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The Biden-Harris administration has lost track of at least 45,000 unaccompanied minors who were brought across the southern border illegally — and President Joe Biden has yet to issue a statement about it.
So far this year, unaccompanied minors arriving at the border have hit record numbers. In June, there were 15,234 encounters with unaccompanied children, in July, 18,958 encounters, and in August, there were 18,847 encounters, according to Customs and Border Patrol data.
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Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Fox Nation Host of No Interruption, Tomi Lahren to the newsmakers line to weigh in on Colin Powell’s passing, “Let’s Go Brandon,” and the border crisis.
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While much of the world watched roughly 15,000 Haitians illegally cross the Rio Grande River from Mexico into Del Rio, Texas, last month, an area near Yuma, Arizona, has become the Grand Canyon State’s Del Rio equivalent.
Known as “The Gap,” a well-known break in the border fence near the Morelos Dam is where migrants illegally cross the border into Arizona – walking across the Colorado River from the Mexican border town of Los Algodones.
In August, 17,000 people illegally crossed into the Yuma Sector. That’s compared to 694 in August 2020, according to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol data, an increase of more than 2,300%.
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Republican Govs. Greg Abbott of Texas and Doug Ducey of Arizona are hosting nine governors in Mission, Texas, Wednesday to denounce President Joe Biden’s policies leading to a surge in illegal immigration at the southern border.
“Texas and Arizona have stepped up to secure the border in the federal government’s absence, and now the Emergency Management Assistance Compact gives your state a chance to stand strong with us,” Ducey and Abbott said in a joint statement this summer. Both governors issued disaster and emergency declarations in their states earlier this year, citing increased crime and financial strains on county governments and law enforcement because of the surge in illegal immigration due to Biden’s policies.
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Border Patrol agents could be fired if they’re not vaccinated for COVID-19 by the end of November, two active agents and a union official told the Daily Caller News Foundation on Thursday.
Border officials have until Nov. 22 to get vaccinated or face three levels of discipline including “verbal counseling, one – 14 days without pay and removal from service,” a senior Border Patrol agent told the DCNF. The agent spoke on the condition of anonymity since they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter.
“So it’s official now. They are implementing disciplinary action for the unvaccinated,” the agent told the DCNF.
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A significant group of Arizona Republican legislators is calling upon Gov. Doug Ducey to declare a state of emergency over the crisis on the border between Arizona and Mexico. The 24 senators and representatives sent the letter to Ducey on Tuesday.
Rep. Leo Biasiucci (R-Lake Havasu), the Majority Whip, told The Arizona Sun Times, “I think all of America can agree that our southern border is a complete disaster. As this Biden-Harris administration continues to ignore our calls for help, thousands of illegal immigrants are pouring into our state daily. This administration is signaling to the world that we have an open border. Myself, along with my Republican colleagues at the Arizona Legislature, will not tolerate this lawlessness anymore. We are a land of law and order. But when the federal government fails at their duty to protect our border, it is up to us to uphold our oath to the constitution and do whatever it takes to help stop this invasion.”
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he would hire any Border Patrol agent fired by the Biden administration after White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said agents would no longer be permitted to use horses to guard the border in Del Rio, Texas.
Criticism of mounted agents was widespread after a photograph showing agents using horse reins was misconstrued by members of the media and some politicians suggesting the agent was using the reins as a “whip.”
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Georgia U.S. Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA-12) has outlined what he said were alarming new numbers about how many people are crossing the U.S.-Mexico border into Texas. Allen made his remarks on the floor of the U.S. House late last week.
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The Biden administration Monday announced a plan to create a rule to reestablish the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy, following the decision by a Texas court that found the Obama-era program unlawful and halted the ability of “Dreamers” to apply for immigration protections.
The Homeland Security Department announced that the new rule aims to “preserve and fortify” DACA by addressing some of the court’s concerns over the way the policy was implemented.
In July, a federal district judge in Texas ruled that DACA violated the Administrative Procedures Act. The decision prevents future applications to the program, but leaves standing the program’s benefits that have already been afforded to close to 600,000 people.
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Around 12,400 migrants could be allowed to remain in the U.S., Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said during a White House press conference on Friday.
Border officials relied on Title 42, a Trump-era public health order implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to expel most migrants from the U.S., according to Mayorkas. Migrants who needed immediate medical attention or who feared torture if they were returned to their home country weren’t subject to removal.
“Approximately 12,400 will have cases heard by an immigration judge to make a determination on whether they’ll be removed or permitted to remain in the United States,” Mayorkas said. If someone is not subject to title 42 expulsion for the three reasons that I explained, acute vulnerability, operational capacity limitations, or a convention against torture exception, then the individual is placed in immigration proceedings.
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As the first year of a Biden presidency that has felt like a decade nears its end, only the most ardent Democratic partisans still insist that the country is on the right track. The rest of us are left to debate whether the rancid fruit of this regime is a result of incompetence or design. By analysis of this administration’s immigration agenda alone, the inescapable conclusion is that it is indeed the latter. The macabre consequences of this fact threaten to take America into one of the darkest chapters in its history.
These kinds of conclusions run contrary to the traditional American ethos. Those who grew up with Ronald Reagan’s “shining city on a hill” imagery or John F. Kennedy’s New Frontier vision experienced leadership that sought the best for America and its citizenry. In those eras, politicians from both major parties seemed to prioritize the good of the country; they only disagreed on the means to get us there.
Such notions seem quaint given today’s realities. Beneath the surface of Biden’s genial Uncle Joe schtick is an executive branch controlled by some of the most dogmatic left-wing apparatchiks ever seen in American politics. Among their witch’s brew of radical ideas, they have seized upon immigration as one of the quickest and most effective ways to transform the country to their vision.
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Border Patrol agents requested additional federal aid in Del Rio, Texas, months before thousands of migrants set up a temporary camp under an international bridge and overwhelmed immigration officials, CNN Politics reported Thursday.
Border officials reported an increase in migrants crossing the Rio Grande River earlier in the summer but didn’t know more than 14,000 migrants would end up setting up camp under the bridge, according to CNN Politics. On June 1, the union representing Del Rio Border Patrol agents asked for additional technology resources to help agents quickly process large groups of migrants in the field before sending them to a station.
“This way, we can at least get part of the process finished before they even get to the station instead of wasting that time,” said Jon Afinsen, president of the National Border Patrol Council in Del Rio, in an email exchange with regional Border Patrol management, CNN Politics reported.
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Concerned about the lack of testing of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich sent a letter to Xavier Becerra, Secretary of Health and Human Services, demanding to know what the Biden administration is doing to ensure that migrants apprehended crossing the border who are infected with COVID-19 or who have been exposed to it are not coming into contact with Americans. He gave Becerra until October 1 to respond. Considering Brnovich has sued the Biden administration multiple times, it appeared to be a threat that he would file another lawsuit if nothing was done.
Brnovich said in his letter, “The Biden administration has chosen the path of increasing government regulation at opposing individual liberties when it comes to handling COVID-19 in the midst of American communities. Yet this same administration has been nothing short of laissez-faire in dealing with tens of thousands of migrants that are pouring across our open border and being ferried across our nation during the same world-wide pandemic. This hypocrisy is stunning and fundamentally unfair to American citizens.”
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In a stunningly blunt warning to senators, President Joe Biden’s just-departed Border Patrol chief is accusing the administration of intentionally eroding security to bring illegal aliens into the country and misleading Congress about the severity of the crisis.
Rodney S. Scott, a 29-year career law enforcement officer who retired last month as the U.S. Border Patrol chief, wrote the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate and its Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that career experts have offered numerous recommendations to slow the crisis but have been repeatedly rebuffed.
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A ruling from a federal judge on Thursday led Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to abandon his plan to close six entry points on the southern border amid a surge of migrants, the El Paso Times reported.
The U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia blocked President Joe Biden from turning away migrant families with children under 18, citing a health order related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the El Paso Times reported. The order will take effect in 14 days.
Abbott announced Thursday he had directed the Texas Department of Public Safety and the Texas National Guard to close six entry points along the southern border in a statement obtained by Fox News.
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Since Oct. 1, 2020, San Diego Sector Border Patrol agents have apprehended more than 7,300 Brazilian nationals, an increase of more than 2,200% from the prior fiscal year. In all of fiscal 2020, 330 Brazilian nationals were apprehended, the sector reports.
Every month since April 2021, San Diego Border Patrol has encountered more than 1,000 Brazilian nationals who enter the U.S. illegally. In fiscal 2020, the sector apprehended six, the agency states.
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MCALLEN, Texas — Some migrants who spoke to the DCNF said they were motivated to come to the U.S. by the Biden administration, while others cited death threats from “narcos” and disaster in their home countries.
“Suddenly, the situations during the previous years weren’t like this one. This year was much more difficult,” a Honduran migrant named Javier told the DCNF after illegally crossing into the U.S. near the Hidalgo Point of Entry early Tuesday morning.
Javier said increasing “crime and a lot of insecurity” including “extortions and death threats from the cartels” motivated him to leave Honduras. He said it took him a little over a month to reach the U.S.
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New federal reporting shows illegal immigration has continued to grow worse as the Biden administration increasingly takes heat for the crisis at the southern border.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection released new immigration data that shows border agents encountered 212,672 undocumented migrants attempting to enter the country illegally in July, the highest number in more than two decades.
“The situation at the border is one of the toughest challenges we face,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said. “It is complicated, changing, and involves vulnerable people at a time of a global pandemic.”
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MCALLEN, Texas — Migrants who illegally crossed the border into the U.S. said immigrating legally is only an option for privileged people.
“We all don’t have the same capacity or the same opportunity,” a Honduran man who had just crossed into the U.S. illegally with a group into La Joya, Texas, told the Daily Caller News Foundation Saturday night. “Only privileged people can cross legally.”
Migrants may pay smugglers between $7,000 and $14,000 to enter the U.S. illegally, and the fee includes multiple tries if the person is deported from the U.S., Reuters reported. Becoming a U.S. citizen, however, takes years and can cost between $4,000 and $12,000 according to the Economic Times.
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Border agents will be issued body-worn cameras in an effort to be more transparent, Customs and Border Protection announced Wednesday.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) expects to issue around 6,000 body-worn cameras by the end of 2021 as part of the agency’s new Incident-Driven Video Recording Systems program, according to the announcement.
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Between July 23 and July 30, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents in Arizona announced that they had arrested five previously-convicted sex offenders, all attempting to reenter the United States illegally.
Of those arrests, four of the attempted border-crossers had previously been convicted of sex crimes involving children.
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The Texas border city of Laredo has sued the Biden administration, hoping to halt its policy of transferring several hundred people a day into the city who have illegally entered the U.S. through two Texas Border Patrol sectors: Rio Grande Valley and Del Rio.
Assistant City Attorney Alyssa Castillon sued the Department of Homeland Security and its secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, Customs and Border Protection and its senior official, Troy Miller, and Border Patrol chief Rodney S. Scott. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Border Patrol intends to double the number of people it brings from the Rio Grande Valley sector, which has seen the largest surge of illegal border crossings in the past few months. Laredo officials estimate that every day, between three and six buses of detained refugees, immigrants and migrants (RIMs) are already being transported to Laredo from the Rio Grande Valley and Del Rio sectors, totaling between 250 and 350 people a day.
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Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Patrol Agent Brian Hastings reported that his sector at the Texas-Mexico border alone took into custody more than 15,000 illegal immigrants in one week, the most so far this year.
In the same sector, agents saw a 900% increase in those being detained who tested positive for the coronavirus.
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Texas authorities announced on Thursday that state law enforcement has begun the process of arresting and jailing illegal aliens who cross the border on state trespassing charges, in a new effort to crack down on illegal immigration where the federal government is failing to do so, ABC News reports.
This latest step follows up on the promises of Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas), who first vowed in June to step up enforcement of immigration laws in the state in direct response to the Biden Administration’s open-borders approach. Abbott also declared that the state would continue building the border wall that was started by President Donald Trump, on which Biden had halted construction after taking power.
The arrested illegals are being detained at a state prison in the city of Dilley, roughly 100 miles north of the border. All of the illegals who have been arrested thus far are single adult men, who are the most likely to be a threat to society. The prison in question is capable of holding up to 950 illegals, but Abbott said in a visit to the border on Saturday that “the state jail commission has worked out a way to jail far more people than are currently being jailed.”
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Border officials encountered nearly 190,000 migrants at the southern border in June, a 5% increase over May’s numbers, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced Friday.
There was a significant increase in the number of re-encounters in June, with 34% of individuals having at least one prior encounter in the past 12 months, compared to the average one-year re-encounter rate of 14% for Fiscal Years 2014-2019, the agency said in a statement.
“The large number of expulsions during the pandemic has contributed to a larger-than-usual number of migrants making multiple border crossing attempts,” CBP said. “Which means that total encounters somewhat overstate the number of unique individuals arriving at the border.”
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Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Director of Policy Studies at the Center for Immigration Law, Jessica Vaughan to weigh in on the ramifications of a broken immigration system.
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Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed former acting director of ICE, Tom Homan to the newsmakers line to discuss the Biden administration’s facilitation of cross-border crime by design.
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Border officials seized 4,000% more fentanyl in 2021 than in 2018 as the border crisis continues, NBC News reported Tuesday.
Cartels have taken advantage of increased federal resources allocated for migrant encounters to smuggle fentanyl into the U.S. between ports of entry, according to NBC News. Border officials have found 41 pounds of fentanyl in fiscal year 2021, compared with nine pounds in 2020, two pounds in 2019 and one pound in 2018.
“For the first time, we’re starting to see these tactics where fentanyl is being smuggled between ports of entry,” Chief Border Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez said, NBC News reported. “Cartels are very creative. They find ways to intimidate migrants and find ways to illegally have them transport that narcotic into the United States.”
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Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott will step down after more than 29 years with Customs and Border Protection, he announced Wednesday.
Scott will remain in his position for around 60 days as the agency transitions, he said in a private Facebook post. A spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shared a screenshot of Scott’s Facebook message with the Daily Caller News Foundation and said the agency would make a formal announcement.
“I received my 3R letter today. For those not familiar, that is Federal government slang for the letter issued to (senior executive staff) level employees informing them of a directed reassignment,” Scott said in the post. “The recipient has 3 options – relocate, resign or retire. No rationale or reason is required, nor is it disciplinary.”
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Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Mayor-Elect Javier Villalobos of McAllen, Texas to the newsmakers line to talk about his background, baseball, border policy, and immigration.
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On a recent congressional trip to the Darién Gap in Panama, where tens of thousands of migrants begin their trek to the U.S. southern border, U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., noted something remarkable.
Western Union outlets were stationed near migrant camps on either side of the gap, making it easy for relatives of migrants who are already in the United States to wire funds. Security officials say some of those funds are then used to pay off smugglers and members of cartels at various points along the migrants’ trip to America.
Tiffany said he fears the COVID-19 stimulus payments approved by Congress may be driving some of the flow of money.
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