Tag: Border Patrol

Biden Admin to Close ICE Detention Centers Where Officials Allegedly Performed Unnecessary Hysterectomies and Used Excessive Force Against Detainees

Admin

The Biden administration plans to close two Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers after allegations of medical and physical abuse against detainees, CNN reported Thursday.

A doctor allegedly performed unauthorized hysterectomies and neglected other detainees at the privately operated Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia, while it is alleged that officials exercised excessive use of force against peaceful detainees at the C. Carlos Carreiro Immigration Detention Center in Bristol County, Massachusetts, both facilities are expected to close, according to CNN.

“We have an obligation to make lasting improvements to our civil immigration detention system,” Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement, CNN reported. “This marks an important first step to realizing that goal.”

Read the full story

Biden Admin Diverts $2 Billion from Healthcare Programs to Help Illegal Migrant Children

Admin
Temporary soft sided facilities are utilized to process noncitizen individuals, noncitizen families and noncitizen unaccompanied children as part of the ongoing response to the current border security and humanitarian effort along the Southwest Border in Donna, Texas, May 4, 2021.

The Biden administration redirected over $2 billion allocated for other health initiatives to care for unaccompanied migrant minors, Politico reported Saturday.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will receive $850 million meant for the federal emergency medical fund depleted by COVID-19 and another $850 million set aside for COVID-19 testing, according to three people familiar with the matter, Politico reported. HHS struggled to open and staff several emergency intake facilities to move over 20,000 migrant children out of border patrol facilities.

“They’ve been in a situation of needing to very rapidly expand capacity, and emergency capacity is much more expensive,” Mark Greenberg, Migration Policy Institute senior fellow and former leader of the Obama administration’s HHS administration for children and families, told Politico. “You can’t just say there’s going to be a waiting list or we’re going to shut off intake. There’s literally not a choice.”

Read the full story

Border Patrol Announces Seizure of $7 Million Worth of Counterfeit Apple Airpods

Admin
Person holding latest Apple Airpods

U.S. Customs and Border Protection this week announced that it had discovered and seized tens of thousands of counterfeit Apple Airpods, a bust the agency said was likely worth around $7 million.

CBP officials earlier this month “inspected three large shipments from China and found what appeared to be tens of thousands of earbuds in violation of Apple’s protected configurations,” the agency said in a press release.

“Each shipment contained 12,000 fake AirPods, for a total of 36,000,” the press release stated. “Although each package had a declared value of $5,280, the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price for all the AirPods would have been $7.16 million had they been genuine.” The bogus products were bound for a Kentucky address.

Read the full story

Biden Admin Scrambling to Figure out How Migrant Children Were Left on Buses Overnight Outside Federal Facility

Admin
Migrant children at border

Biden administration officials are investigating reports of unaccompanied migrant minors spending nights on buses outside a federal holding facility in Dallas, Texas, NBC News reported Thursday.

Migrant children are sleeping, eating and using the restroom on buses outside the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, sometimes for days, according to NBC News.

“This is completely unacceptable,” Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra said, NBC News reported. “We’re quickly investigating this to get to the bottom of what happened, and we’ll work to make sure this never happens again. The safety and well-being of the children is our priority.”

A 15-year-old migrant, Joel, made the journey from Honduras to reunite with his mother and was left on a bus from Saturday until the bus departed on its way to Seattle, Washington, on Wednesday, NBC News reported. His mother, Doris, said an HHS employee told them Joel would arrive Monday despite the bus remaining in Dallas.

Read the full story

Commentary: Stopping the Crisis at the Border

RealClearWire
"Open the border" tent with baby stroller in front of other tents.

I recently traveled to the southern border with colleagues from both sides of the aisle to see the unfolding crisis firsthand and come up with solutions. The surge and resulting chaos is well documented. 

Customs and Border Protection reported more than 172,000 total encounters at the border in March, up 70% from February and more than five times the March 2020 numbers. This includes more than 53,000 migrant family members, a more than 1,000% increase from March 2020; nearly 100,000 single adult migrants, an increase of 275% versus last year; and nearly 19,000 unaccompanied children, double the amount that crossed our border in February and a nearly 500% increase from March 2020.

The reason for the crisis is clear. The Biden administration’s policy changes encouraged families and unaccompanied children, mostly from the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, to come to our southern border and apply for asylum. Traffickers are telling families they can come into the U.S. if they pay to make the treacherous trip north, then apply for asylum at the border. Under the Biden policies, there is a lot of truth to that.  

Read the full story

Biden Admin Considers Building More Border Wall Where ‘Gaps’ Exist: Report

Admin

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told employees he’s considering building more sections of the border wall to fill in “gaps,” The Washington Times reported Monday.

President Joe Biden stopped federal funding to the southern border wall, though Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials reportedly asked Mayorkas last week what his plans for the wall are, according to the Times. Biden issued a Jan. 20 executive order ceasing all construction on the southern border wall.

Read the full story

Around 1,000 Illegal Migrants Evading Overwhelmed Border Officials Daily

Admin
Border Patrol sign.

Around 1,000 illegal migrants are entering the interior of the U.S. daily without overwhelmed border officials able to gather identifying information or take them into custody, The Washington Post reported Friday.

Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officials are occupied processing unaccompanied migrant minors and family units while attempting to control the number of male adults who enter the U.S., leading to some illegal migrants entering the U.S. unknowingly, according to three CBP officials who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter, the Post reported. The number of migrants who are able to evade officials, known as “got aways,” has increased substantially in recent weeks, two of the officials told the Post.

A “got away” is someone who crosses the border illegally, is not apprehended and has not been turned back, according to CBP. The agency spent over $1 billion in the last 20 years on surveillance technology to monitor for illegal crossings, though officials haven’t always able to apprehend illegal migrants.

Read the full story

Border Patrol Holding Thousands of Migrant Children Past The Legal Limit, Some Detained Longer Than 10 Days

Admin

Customs and Border Protection has held at least 800 unaccompanied migrant minors in custody for over 10 days, Axios reported

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) can legally hold unaccompanied minors for 72 hours, though over 3,300 were in custody over the limit as of Saturday, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security document obtained by Axios. Over 2,200 unaccompanied minors were held for more than five days and around 820 were in custody for over 10 days.

The number of unaccompanied minors in CBP custody for over 10 days has quadrupled in the last week, Axios reported. Only around 180 unaccompanied minors were in CBP custody for over 10 days as of last Monday.

Read the full story

Child Migration Quickly Overwhelming Biden Administration’s Resources, Internal Documents Show

Admin

The number of child migrants crossing the United States’ southern border is quickly exceeding the federal government’s ability to hold them, internal documents from the Department of Health and Human Services show.

In the final week of February, Border Patrol referred an average of 321 children a day to HHS custody, according to Axios, which first reported the documents’ findings. Child migrant crossings averaged 203 per day in late January, and just 47 a day during the first week of 2021.

Read the full story

Over 100 Illegal Immigrants Released by Border Patrol in Texas Have Tested Positive for COVID-19 Since January 25

Admin

Since January 25, 108 illegal immigrants released into Texas by Border Patrol have reportedly tested positive for Covid-19. According to a spokesperson for Brownsville, a town on the Texas border, that number represents 6.3 percent of those who have taken the test.  The migrants are tested at the city’s main bus station, where they are being released by the Border Patrol.

According to NBC News, several of the illegal immigrants “plan to travel to dozens of cities throughout the country” despite testing positive for the coronavirus.

Read the full story

More Than 700 Kids Currently Detained in Border Patrol Custody, Report Shows

Admin

More than 700 migrant children are currently detained in Customs and Border Patrol facilities, according to an internal government report.

At least 200 children had been held in the facilities for over 48 hours and nine had been held more than 72 hours, according to an internal Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) report dated Feb. 21, Axios reported. The CBP is not allowed to hold children more than 72 hours, according to a previous agreement.

Read the full story

Over $14 Million Worth of Drugs, Firearms and a Man Wanted for Murder Detained by Border Officials in February

Admin

Around $14.3 million worth of narcotics and several weapons have been seized since the start of February at an Arizona port where officials also arrested a man wanted for murder, Customs and Border Protection announced Tuesday.

Officials seized 440 pounds of methamphetamine, 385,000 tablets of fentanyl, 84 pounds of heroin and almost 13 pounds of cocaine in around 25 instances since Feb. 1, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). A 28-year-old man wanted for murder in Las Vegas was arrested while in possession of an AR-15 assault rifle, a handgun and over 300 rounds of ammunition.

Read the full story

Border Patrol Arrests Nearly 300 Illegal Immigrants After Searching Stash Houses, Stopping Smuggling Attempts

Admin

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials and local law enforcement in Texas arrested 294 suspected illegal immigrants within 18 hours, the Department of Homeland Security announced last week.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents intercepted smuggling attempts and raided stash houses in four separate incidents in Laredo, Texas, on Oct. 13, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Of those detained, 90 were from countries other than Mexico.

Read the full story

Apprehensions at Southern Border Decreased by Nearly Half from Last Year 2019, CBP Says

Admin

Nearly half as many individuals were apprehended at the southern border during fiscal year 2020 as in the previous year, Customs and Border Protection announced Wednesday.

A total of 400,651 migrants were apprehended between ports of entry at the southern border in fiscal year 2020, which ended with September, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced. In the fiscal year 2019, just over 851,500 individuals were apprehended.

Read the full story

After Over a Month of Violent Rioting in Portland, Border Patrol Called in to Restore Order

Admin

After violent antifa riots were allowed to rock downtown Portland, Oregon, for over a month, Border Patrol agents over the holiday weekend were finally deployed to restore order.

Acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Mark Morgan expressed frustration over the situation on Fox News Sunday: “Where are the local political leaders?” he asked. “These are not protesters, these are criminals.”

Read the full story

Kyrsten Sinema, Eight Other Senators Sign Letter to Speed Up Removal of Certain Migrants

Admin

by Shelby Talcott   Sen. Kyrsten Sinema is aiming to implement a program at the U.S.-Mexico border that would speed up the removal of migrants without valid asylum claims. The Arizona Democrat joined eight other senators in signing a letter Wednesday to acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan, The Arizona Republic reported. The letter detailed how the pilot program, which is called “Operation Safe Return,” would allow for some migrants to be deported within 15 days, according to the letter. “This pilot program would apply to families who aren’t claiming ‘credible fear,’ which of course is the first threshold in seeking asylum,” Sinema told The Arizona Republic. “If someone says, ‘I left my country because I can’t make a living,’ [or] ‘It’s hard to take care of my family’ — that’s what we call an economic migrant.” Border Patrol would be given one to three days for “detailed, fair and accurate interviews” with migrant families. If the families are fearful of returning to their home countries, they would be deported, the newspaper reported. If a family is fearful, the next step would be for asylum officers to conduct a credible-fear interview. The officers would have nine days after the family…

Read the full story

Border Patrol Removes Hundreds of Children From Station Following Reports of Unsanitary Conditions

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   Border Patrol officials relocated the majority of children held at a government facility following reports that more than 300 children being housed were subjected to unsanitary and “inhumane” conditions. Democratic Rep. Veronica Escobar of Texas said Monday that 30 children remained in the border facility near El Paso, Texas, The Associated Press reported. The massive relocation came after an AP report on June 20 gave lurid details of the conditions migrant children were living in. The Border Patrol station in Clint, Texas, contained children who were reportedly hungry, had not showered in days and were left to take care of young infants, according to attorneys who visited the station. Many of the children had been living in the facility for weeks — despite that they are required to be taken into Health and Human Services’ custody within 72 hours. Fifteen children had the flu, and 10 were being held in medical quarantine. “How is it possible that you both were unaware of the inhumane conditions for children, especially tender-age children at the Clint Station?” Escobar asked in a June 21 letter delivered to Customs and Border Protection acting commissioner John Sanders and U.S. Border Patrol chief…

Read the full story

It’s Not Just Central America: Where Illegal Immigrants on the Border Come From

Admin

by Fred Lucas   The recent spike in illegal immigration from African countries underscores the increase in migrants coming from around the globe to sneak across the southern border—including more than 10,000 from Asia and almost 900 from Europe last year. In recent weeks, U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended more than 500 illegal immigrants from African countries that include Angola, Cameroon, and both the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Associated Press reported. That’s more than twice the 211 total apprehensions during fiscal year 2018 of illegal border crossers from the continent. Customs and Border Protection numbers from fiscal 2018 show significant numbers from other continents as well. The recent spike in illegal immigration from African countries underscores the increase in migrants coming from around the globe to sneak across the southern border—including more than 10,000 from Asia and almost 900 from Europe last year. In recent weeks, U.S. Customs and Border Protection apprehended more than 500 illegal immigrants from African countries that include Angola, Cameroon, and both the Republic of the Congo and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Associated Press reported. That’s more than twice the 211 total apprehensions during…

Read the full story

Border Patrol Reports a Surge of Africans Trying to Illegally Cross the Border

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   Border Patrol is reporting “a dramatic rise” in the number of African migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in recent days. Border Patrol agents have apprehended over 500 individuals from the continent of Africa in the Del Rio Sector since May 30, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The migrants — most of them family units from Congo, Angola and Cameroon — are increasingly found trying to cross the Rio Grande River, exacerbating an immigration crisis primarily driven by Central Americans. “The introduction of this new population places additional burdens on processing stations, to include language and cultural differences,” Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul L. Ortiz said in a CBP press statement Wednesday. “Our agents continue to meet each new challenge as the ongoing humanitarian crisis evolves.” Agents at the Del Rio Sector, a stretch of border between Texas and Mexico, apprehended their first large group of African migrants on May 30, nabbing 116 Africans crossing the Rio Grande together. A group of migrants is considered “large” if it’s made up of 100 or more persons. U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to Del Rio Sector apprehended a large group of 116 individuals—from…

Read the full story

Report: Migrant Children Are Being Detained Longer than the Law Allows

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   The sheer number of unaccompanied alien children (UACs) arriving at the U.S. southern border is bottlenecking law enforcement resources, reportedly forcing Border Patrol to keep migrant children longer than the legal requirement. Hundreds of the 2,000 or so UACs currently held in Border Patrol custody have been detained at stations and processing centers longer than the 72-hour limit, according to a report by The Washington Post. Around 1,000 of the UACs are reportedly held longer than the legal limit, while more than 250 children 12 and younger are being detained for an average of six days. The law mandates that Border Patrol must transfer UACs to a children’s shelter run by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) within 72 hours, but immigration officials say the record number of illegal immigrants appearing in their custody has overwhelmed their operations. “It’s a daily battle,” one border agent told The Washington Post said about the crisis. “You catch a thousand people a day, and then you can only process 750 a day. The agents are working their tails off trying to get this squared away, but it’s a daily struggle with the amount of people we’re encountering.”…

Read the full story

Border Patrol Creating a New Position to Stymie the Immigration Crisis

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   The U.S. Border Patrol announced that it’s creating a new position specifically tailored to processing and caring for migrants that reach the southern border, allowing agents to refocus their work on enforcement. The “Border Patrol Processing Coordinator” will assume certain responsibilities that have consumed the agency’s time as it deals with a surge of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) press release on Tuesday. The new position is meant to bring relief to agents who have long complained that the humanitarian crisis has kept them from performing their main role at the border. Coordinators are to be tasked with feeding, cleaning, transporting and other general tasks for illegal immigrants in Border Patrol custody. Migrants in need of medical care will be transported to hospitals by coordinators, who will also be assigned to watch over migrants as they receive care. “I am committed to providing the men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol the resources they need to accomplish their border security mission,” Carla Provost, Chief of the Border Patrol, said in a prepared statement on Tuesday. “Border Patrol Processing Coordinators will take on processing, transportation, and custody responsibilities,…

Read the full story

CBP Chief: Border Patrol Has Made 2,500 Migrant Rescues This Year Alone

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   A Border Patrol chief on Friday broke down how many times his agents have put their lives on the line to save illegal migrants attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, an area laden with deadly deserts and river currents. “We have had 2,500 rescues this year,” Border Patrol Law Enforcement Operations Chief Brian Hastings said Friday on Hill.TV. “About 400 of those are water rescues where agents have put their own lives on the line, jumped into a fast-moving current to save children, or to save adults, or to save those that are in distress, and that’s on a daily basis.” Hastings, who has worked in border security since 2005, noted that this was the “most dangerous” time to be a border agent since he can remember. .@CBP Chief Brian Hastings told me this AM that Border Patrol agents have made 2500 rescues of migrants this year w/ 400 of those being water rescues, putting agents at risk. He says it is most dangerous time in his 3 decade career to be a BP agent today https://t.co/uCvpJkldie pic.twitter.com/MrixFqFvqr — Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) May 17, 2019 Hastings noted that many of the rescues take place in the…

Read the full story

13,000 People Are Waiting at Mexican Border to Claim Asylum

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   Thousands of foreign nationals are waiting south of the U.S.-Mexico border to claim asylum. The backlog is a direct result of the Trump administration’s efforts to clamp down on burgeoning asylum claims. Approximately 13,000 people are on waiting lists to claim asylum in the U.S., an Associated Press investigation found. The AP determined the amount after traveling to eight Mexican cities dotted along the border. Tijuana, the city with the longest line, had 4,800 people on the waitlist. Ciudad Juarez and Nogales were two other cities with major lines, with 4,500 and 1,000 people, respectively, waiting to get into the U.S. The backlog is a consequence of the U.S. government controlling how many people can claim asylum a day, a process known as “metering.” Each day at ports of entry, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers communicate with their Mexican counterparts, telling them how many immigrants are allowed to cross the border. Officials who handle the massive wait lists then direct the chosen individuals to cross the border to make their asylum claims. The metering process — which has sparked intense ire from progressive and Democratic circles — has allowed the U.S. government to somewhat manage…

Read the full story

Official: US Risks Losing Control of Southern Border

Admin

  A U.S. official on Wednesday said the nation would “lose control” of its border with Mexico unless a massive and protracted surge of undocumented immigrants and asylum-seekers, primarily from Central America, is contained and reversed. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost issued the warning to a Senate panel while announcing an eye-popping number of migrant apprehensions: 460,294 so far in the current fiscal year, which began in October. That figure exceeds the yearly total recorded by Border Patrol in more than a decade. Provost noted that, unlike in previous major migration periods, children, unaccompanied minors and family units constitute a substantial proportion of those reaching the U.S.-Mexico border, placing huge and unprecedented burdens on federal agencies. “I could never have envisioned that, today, agents would spend at least 40% of their time as child care providers, medical caregivers, bus drivers and food service workers,” Provost told the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on border security and immigration. “Every agent that I pull off the line to process and care for families and children increases the risk that illegal border crossers will get past us, including those smuggling drugs and other contraband.” Border security ‘at risk’ She added, “Simply put, we have…

Read the full story

Report: Trump Administration Orders Asylum Officers to Get Tougher with Applicants

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   A directive from the White House is reportedly ordering asylum screeners to be more skeptical and confrontational with applicants, marking the administration’s latest attempt to weed out fraud. Asylum officers are to more aggressively pursue inconsistencies they see from applicants who claim they are facing persecution in their home countries, according to emails and documents obtained by The Washington Post. Officers will also be required to provide comprehensive justifications prior to determining an applicant has a legitimate fear of harm if deported from the U.S. Additionally, officers are to focus on any discrepancies between what a migrant might have told an arresting Border Patrol officer and what the migrant said during an asylum application interview. “Officers conducting credible fear interviews should also be addressing any more detailed inconsistencies between the applicant’s testimony during the credible fear interview and other testimony in sworn statement,” read a staff email from John Lafferty, the chief of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) asylum division, obtained by The Washington Post. The new directive follows numerous other changes the Trump administration made to clamp down on immigration fraud at the U.S.-Mexico border. Border Patrol agents are rolling out a DNA-testing…

Read the full story

Border Patrol Chief Says Agency Has Made Over 30,000 Arrests in the Past 10 Days

Admin

by Nick Givas   A U.S. Border Patrol official said his agency has apprehended more than 30,000 illegal immigrants on the southern border in the past 10 days. “This is a challenge unlike any we’ve ever faced before,” Chief of Law Enforcement Operations Brian Hastings said Monday on “Fox & Friends.” “We’re up to 474,000 arrests so far this fiscal year, and just the last 10 days alone, 33,000 arrests for us,” he added. “So, our facilities were not designed to handle this type of flow or more importantly, this demographic — about 63 percent being family units and UACs, or unaccompanied alien children.” Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost called the number of arrests “unsustainable” and “beyond capacity,” in a tweet Saturday. #BorderPatrol agents are arresting more & more family units every day. These numbers are unsustainable & the system is beyond capacity. Despite measures to increase capacity with additional temp facilities, #USBP has had to release overflow into the communities as a last resort. pic.twitter.com/vnUY21pw2M — Chief Jason Owens (@USBPChief) May 4, 2019 U.S. officials announced in March they had released 84,500 migrant family members since Dec. 21, The Arizona Republic reported. The government released 14,500 migrants into the…

Read the full story

10-Month-Old Baby Dies After Migrant Raft Capsized in Rio Grande

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   Authorities found the body of a 10-month-old baby after a raft he was on capsized, spilling him and eight other migrants into the cold, dangerous waters of the Rio Grande river. At around 9:45 p.m. Wednesday night, Border Patrol agents working in the Eagle Pass Station encountered a man who unlawfully entered the United States, according to a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) press release. Upon apprehension, the man informed agents he had been traveling on a rubber raft carrying nine migrants that tipped over in the Rio Grande. The man’s wife, 10-month-old and 6-year-old sons, and 7-year-old nephew were among those on the raft. Border Patrol immediately began a search operation for the missing migrants. Cries from afar brought agents to the riverbank, where a woman and a child were seen struggling to float in the water. “Disregarding his own personal safety, an agent jumped into the river and successfully rescued both individuals later identified as the wife and child of the man who made the initial report,” the CBP statement read. Border Patrol Emergency Medical Personnel treated the 6-year-old boy on site and later rushed him to a hospital for more treatment. Shortly afterward,…

Read the full story

Border Patrol Arrests 424 Illegal Immigrants at Once in the ‘Largest’ Arrest It’s Ever Made

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   Border Patrol agents nabbed 424 illegal aliens attempting to cross the border in a single group, marking the largest apprehension in the agency’s history. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, agents encountered a large group of “what seemed to be over 400 illegal aliens” near the border town of Sunland Park, New Mexico, according to a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) press release. The group of mostly Central American families and unaccompanied minors reached the border shortly after midnight. Hours after their apprehension, Border Patrol was able to count every individual and determine the group was a record-setting size. “This is an ongoing situation that U.S Border Patrol agents are facing in southern New Mexico: hundreds of parents and children being encountered by agents after having faced a dangerous journey in the hands of unscrupulous smugglers,” CBP wrote in its press release, revealing the massive group traveled with the help of human smugglers. https://twitter.com/CBP/status/1123361746566176769 Border Patrol agents in New Mexico apprehended another large group of illegal migrants shortly afterward. Officials working in the Antelope Wells Port of Entry, about 160 miles west of Sunland Park, encountered 230 illegal aliens around 2 a.m., bringing New Mexico’s…

Read the full story

Radio Ads in Central America Are Encouraging Illegal Immigration, Border Patrol Says

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   A Border Patrol agent said there are radio advertisements playing in Central America, encouraging locals to flee to the U.S. illegally to obtain the “American dream.” “The word is definitely out. They have advertisements by radio. You listen to your radio on your way to work — on your way to the grocery store. And that country is advertising, ‘If you want the American dream, we’ll help you out — we’ll teach you how to get it in the United States,’” an unidentified border agent said to Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on Sunday. Bartiromo toured the southern border in the El Paso Sector, a region the agent described as “probably the busiest area in the country” in terms of illegal immigration. The Fox News host spotted a family crossing the border as she was filming, meeting one Ecuadorian woman with an infant who said she had been traveling for two months. The agent said they are encountering an “unprecedented” number of family units. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIv51igbOiA   Advertisements, paid for by human smugglers, encouraging Central Americans to migrate to the U.S. have become more prevalent in recent time, with many illegal aliens claiming they were prompted to make the trip specifically…

Read the full story

US Border Patrol to Fingerprint More Migrant Children

Admin
unaccompanied children

  U.S. border authorities say they’ve started to increase the biometric data they take from children 13 years old and younger, including fingerprints, despite privacy concerns and government policy intended to restrict what can be collected from migrant youths. A Border Patrol official said this week that the agency had begun a pilot program to collect the biometrics of children with the permission of the adults accompanying them, though he did not specify where along the border it has been implemented. The Border Patrol also has a “rapid DNA pilot program” in the works, said Anthony Porvaznik, the chief patrol agent in Yuma, Arizona, in a video interview published by the Epoch Times newspaper. Spokesmen for the Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security did not return several messages from The Associated Press seeking comment on both programs. ‘Kids that are being rented’ The Border Patrol says that in the last year, it’s stopped roughly 3,100 adults and children fraudulently posing as families so they can be released into the U.S. quickly rather than face detention or rapid deportation. The Department of Homeland Security has also warned of “child recycling,” cases where they say children allowed into the U.S.…

Read the full story

FBI Arrests Member of New Mexico Group that Stops Illegal Border Crossers at Border

Admin

Reuters   The FBI on Saturday said it had arrested Larry Hopkins, a member of an armed group of U.S. citizens who have been stopping migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in New Mexico. Hopkins, 69, also known as Johnny Horton, was arrested in Sunland Park, N.M., on a federal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement. Hopkins had represented himself as the commander of the United Constitutional Patriots (UCP), a volunteer group camped out near Sunland Park since late February. The UCP has posted videos showing its members holding migrants, many of them Central American families with children seeking asylum, until U.S. Border Patrol arrives to arrest them. Migrants’ surrender on video The group drew a complaint from the American Civil Liberties Union, and widespread media attention, after an April 16 video showed a group of around 300 migrants surrendering to the UCP at its camp. New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Friday said citizens had no authority to arrest or detain anyone and police and justice officials were looking into the UCP’s activities. Hector Balderas, New Mexico’s attorney general, described Hopkins as…

Read the full story

Border Apprehensions in 2019 Have Already Surpassed Last Year’s Total

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   Border Patrol agents, halfway through fiscal year 2019, have already apprehended more migrants nationwide than all of fiscal year 2018. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) announced that 418,000 nationwide apprehensions have occurred this fiscal year to date. A total of 404,142 nationwide apprehensions took place in the entirety of fiscal year 2018, a CBP spokeswoman told The Daily Caller News Foundation. The numbers indicate that 2019 is on pace for a stellar year in border apprehensions. The vast majority of the captures are taking place on the U.S. southwest border, where 414,000 foreign nationals were nabbed between ports of entry since October — the beginning of the 2019 fiscal year. Compared to the 2018 fiscal year, only 396,579 apprehensions were made on the southwest border. The escalating situation is prompting more calls from immigration enforcement leaders to do something. “We don’t have room to hold [detainees], we don’t have the authority to remove them, and they are not likely to be able to be allowed to remain in the country at the end of their immigration proceedings,” acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan said Wednesday during a press conference in Hidalgo, Texas. McAleenan — making his…

Read the full story

Illegals Caught Dragging Children Through Razor Wire as They Cross the Border

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   Dramatic footage taken by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents reveals the extreme danger smugglers put families and young children through when illegally crossing the border. The recently released footage was taken on Dec. 18 and Dec. 22 within the Custom and Border Patrol’s (CBP) Yuma Sector in Arizona. On both days, agents filmed smugglers pulling families, including children, through razor wire laid across the U.S.-Mexico border. Speaking in Spanish, an agent can be heard yelling “Don’t do that! Look at the child!” in the Dec. 18 clip. The smuggler can be seen pushing a young boy through a hole in the metal bollard wall and past a coil of razor wire. “Hey, careful! Careful with the boy!” the agent continues as sirens go off in the background. “Migrants continue to ignore the hazards and risk their lives attempting to cross the Rio Grande River,” Del Rio Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Louie W. Collins said in a statement. “Had our Border Patrol agents not been in the area to respond quickly, the woman and her children would have more than likely drowned.” A CBP spokesman said rescues like the one on the Rio Grande are…

Read the full story

Hundreds of Border Agents Reassigned as Illegal Crossings Reach Record Highs

Admin

by Jason Hopkins   The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) announced on Wednesday that it is reassigning more than 700 officers to assist the Border Patrol as it faces an “unprecedented” security crisis. CBP’s Office of Field Operations will temporarily reassign up to 750 of its officers to Border Patrol sectors along the country’s southwest border, helping the agency manage the influx of illegal migrants in recent days. Redeployed officers will assist with various processing responsibilities, such as transportation and hospital watch of detained individuals. “Border Patrol processing facilities on the Southwest border have far exceeded capacity and the Border Patrol does not have the personnel to process, care for, and transport individuals in custody without help from its partners,” CBP said in a statement on Wednesday. CBP officers will be redirected from ports of entry in the Tucson, Laredo, El Paso and San Diego field offices — a move that CBP acknowledges will affect its capabilities to press travel and trade. News of the reassignments come as the southwest border has experienced a historic week in illegal border crossings. CBP reported 4,000 apprehensions and encounters on Monday, the highest volume in over a decade. However, the record-setting number…

Read the full story

Trump Renews Threat to Close Southern Border With Mexico

Admin

U.S. President Donald Trump is renewing his threat to close the country’s southern border, saying Mexico and three Central American countries are not doing anything to halt the surge of undocumented migrants heading north to try to enter the United States. Trump first threatened to close the border last November but did not follow through. However, as he ended a 35-day partial government shutdown in late January in a dispute with Congress over funding for a border wall, he declared a national emergency to build the barrier. While both houses of Congress rejected his declaration of a national emergency, the House of Representatives failed this week to override his veto of the measure, leaving the emergency declaration intact. Mexico is doing NOTHING to help stop the flow of illegal immigrants to our Country. They are all talk and no action. Likewise, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador have taken our money for years, and do Nothing. The Dems don’t care, such BAD laws. May close the Southern Border! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2019 Trump is moving ahead with plans to extend the barriers along the border with funding that had been earmarked for other projects. However, the fate…

Read the full story

Border Patrol Wives Who Rebuked Nancy Pelosi Speak Out

Admin

by Nick Givas   Two wives of border patrol agents who rebuked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi appeared on “Fox & Friends” Monday to explain the letter they wrote to her. “I just felt that it was really important that our leaders come here and see what’s happening firsthand. It’s important for them to meet with the people that are here on a daily basis,” Jill Demanski said. “What they witnessing and the effects that it has on our country. And we want them to come here and make an informed decision and to see what’s really going on.” The letter invited Pelosi to McAllen, Texas, to get a firsthand look at the border and asked the speaker to “stop pretending” that she cares about federal workers. “If you did [care], you would care for their safety, not just their paychecks,” the letter read. Renea Perez said her husband feels overwhelmed at the border because they lack the adequate backup and technology to do a sufficient job. “It can be overwhelming. I mean, they do a fabulous job of protecting us. We feel safe in the valley because of them. But they definitely need a wall or a barrier in the high traffic areas,” Perez…

Read the full story

Commentary: Who Owns America?

Admin

by Pedro Gonzales   Anywhere from 11 million to 22 million illegal aliens reside in the United States today. The most recent research suggests that the higher number is closest to the correct figure. In and of itself, that is a crisis. New arrivals – legal and illegal – come to America all the time. Two-thirds of these, Steven W. Mosher writes, use food stamps and other forms of state-administered assistance, such as public housing, not long after they arrive in the country, leaving Americans with a $116 billion annual tab. Moreover, much of the savings these new arrivals manage to accumulate are sent out of the country as remittances, about $25 billion of which ends up in Mexico. More people today speak a single non-English language – Spanish – than ever before in American history. For the first time, too, the middle class has registered as a minority in our country – an issue no doubt exacerbated by the importation of droves impoverished foreigners. Media Fallacies That word, “crisis,” however, has become such an overused bit of sophistry among the mindless chattering classes, that it is hard to take it either literally or seriously. When I say mindless, I mean that the chatterers are incapable of seeing the word in…

Read the full story

Commentary: At a Cost of $25 Billion Once Versus $165 Billion Annually, Trump’s ‘Wall’ Math Holds Up

Admin

by Spencer P. Morrison   Scott Adams, the creator of the popular cartoon “Dilbert,” transformed himself into a persona non grata in 2016 by exposing how Donald Trump manipulated the media by using sophisticated persuasion techniques. History proved Adams was correct and Trump won the election. As it turns out, Trump was not the bumbling blowhard of CNN’s fever dreams. He was a marketing mastermind whose words went far beyond “resonating” with ordinary Americans—they stuck. Epithets like crooked, lyin’, and low-energy were not just insults, they were silver bullets spoken by a silver tongue. Hillary, Ted, and Jeb didn’t know what hit ’em. Two years on and Trump’s word-wizardry is as potent as ever – Pocahontas‘s racial fraud is now common knowledge, and Trump’s little rocket man jab arguably set the stage for North Korea’s denuclearization summit. At this point, Trump’s language is indistinguishable from political magic. For example, Trump’s push for “the wall” has turned ardent socialists into laissez-faire economists on the issue of illegal immigration – who cares if migration hurts America’s most vulnerable? We need aliens to grow the economy! This flip-flop has made it clear to ordinary Americans: the Democratic Party cares more about illegal aliens than it does the common citizen. Another Brick in the Wall The Democratic Party shut down the government to…

Read the full story

Commentary: Senator Lindsey Graham Makes A Great Point

Admin

by CHQ Staff   Ever since the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings Senator Lindsey Graham has been on a roll, and his appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday was a great example. Graham warned that the ongoing partial federal government shutdown over border wall funding cannot end as long as the “radical left” insists on reflexively calling Republicans racist for supporting immigration officials. Democrats who want to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and deride Border Patrol agents for using tear gas hold too much power in the ongoing shutdown negotiations, Graham said. “We’re having to negotiate with people who want to abolish ICE, not support ICE,” Graham said on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday. “We’re having to negotiate with people who see border patrol agents gassing children, rather than defending our borders as professional law enforcement officers.” He continued: “And we’re negotiating with people who will accuse all of us who support a wall as part of border security as racists. As long as the radical left is in charge, we’re not going to get anywhere. … The goal is to fix a broken immigration system, to bring reality to this table.” Sen. Graham is right but fixing our broken…

Read the full story

Commentary: Trump Wins the First Battle of San Ysidro

Admin
US-Mexico Border

by George Rasley   More than 5,000 phony asylum-seekers arrived from Central America and elsewhere in Tijuana, Mexico after having been transported from their home countries to the U.S. – Mexico border. Last Sunday, hundreds of them marched through Tijuana to assault the U.S. port of entry at San Ysidro. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said four officers were struck with rocks before they fired tear gas at the migrants trying to rush the San Ysidro Port of Entry. But McAleenan said the officers “were wearing protective gear and did not suffer serious injuries.” According to reporting by NPR, Mexican police officers in riot gear stopped many, but those who continued toward the fence met U.S. border agents, who sprayed some with tear gas. Following the incident, the Mexican Interior Ministry said it will deport hundreds of migrants who attempted to “violently” cross the border. On the U.S. side of the border, ABC 10 News San Diego’s Laura Acevedo reported a group called the San Diego Migrant and Refugee Coalition organized the Sunday rally that eventually turned into a march. About 600 people joined the coalition which is made up of 20 migrant support and social justice groups.…

Read the full story

Trump ‘Willing’ to Shut Down Government Over Border Wall Funding

Admin

President Donald Trump says he would “totally be willing” to partially shut down the government next week if he does not get more funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border to thwart Central American migrants from entering the country. The U.S. leader, who almost daily unleashes verbal attacks on migrants trying to cross into the United States, told Politico he is insisting that $5 billion for wall construction be included in measures Congress needs to approve to keep several federal agencies open after their current spending authority expires December 7. Opposition Democrats have said they will approve $1.6 billion for the wall, leaving the two sides far apart. Some Republicans are also opposed to Trump’s wall, which he vowed in his 2016 presidential campaign would be paid for by Mexico, although he now wants U.S. taxpayers to foot the bill. “I am firm,” Trump said of his $5 billion demand. “I don’t do anything … just for political gain,” Trump said. “But I will tell you, politically speaking, that issue is a total winner. People look at the border, they look at the rush to the police, they look at the rock throwers and really hurting three people, three…

Read the full story

Caravan Migrants Scale Border Fence Near San Diego

Admin

by Will Racke   As the initial wave of Central American migrants traveling in a caravan streamed into Tijuana on Tuesday, many of them broke from the group and scaled the border fence just south of San Diego’s International Friendship Park. Video taken by the San Diego Union-Tribune shows dozens of migrants climbing to the top of the barrier, where they waved and whistled at Border Patrol agents standing guard a few hundred feet away. In a statement released Tuesday, the Border Patrol said it believes some of the people who climbed onto the fences are from the caravan of about 4,000 migrants that has been making its way north through Mexico for the past several weeks, FOX5 San Diego reported. Tuesday’s scene near Friendship Park was reminiscent of what happened when a similar caravan of migrants arrived in Tijuana in April. In that instance, caravan migrants scrambled to the top of the border fence and waved the national flag of Honduras, the country many had fled just weeks before. The latest caravan has been the impetus for the Trump administration’s multi-pronged crackdown on illegal immigration in recent weeks. Characterizing the group as a potential “invasion” of U.S. territory, President…

Read the full story