Tag: CBP

August Border Encounters of More than 322,000 Highest Monthly Total in U.S. History

The Center Square

Total encounters reported at both the northern and southwest land borders in August was 304,162, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data. It is the greatest total number of illegal entries of any month in recorded U.S. history, according to CBP data.

Total encounter data excludes nearly 30,000 gotaways at the southwest border reported by Border Patrol agents last month. It excludes gotaways reported by Office of Field Operations agents at the southwest border and all gotaway data from the northern border.

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Number of Migrant Encounters at Southern Border on Pace to Surpass Previous Record Year

Admin

Migrant encounters for fiscal year 2023 so far are on pace to surpass the record of more than 2.3 million that were recorded crossing in fiscal year 2022, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data updated Friday.

Encounters of migrants between October 2022 and August hit 2,206,039, compared to 2,378,944 in all of fiscal year 2022, according to the data, which includes illegal crossings between ports of entry and legal crossings at ports. In August alone, Border Patrol encountered roughly 181,000 migrants that crossed illegally.

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Arizona Ports Fear Federal Border Policies Could Lead to ‘Another 9/11 Tragedy’

The Center Square

Arizona’s border port authorities issued a joint resolution Monday emphasizing the need for border security to sustain economic growth in the region. 

The resolution came from the Douglas International Port Authority, the Greater Nogales and Santa Cruz County Port Authority, and the Greater Yuma Port Authority, with specific ideas during their Board of Directors joint session in Tucson.

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Media Fumed over Trump’s Detention of Illegal Immigrants, Now Issue Has Boomeranged on Biden

Just the News
Border surge

Former President Donald Trump attracted intense media scrutiny and criticism over the detention of illegal immigrants. But now the issue has boomeranged on the Biden administration and his party, which is being cited by government watchdogs for poor conditions at  Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities during the surge at the southern border.

More than six million immigrants have illegally entered the United States during Joe Biden’s presidency. The influx appears to have placed considerable strain on facilities intended to accommodate fresh arrivals. Federal agencies are seemingly unable to provide adequate service in the face of the sheer volume.

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Family Units Trying to Enter U.S. Illegally Spiking Due to Biden Rule, Experts Say

Just the News

The record number of “family units” attempting to cross into the U.S. at the border hit a record high at 91,000 in August, which immigration policy experts say was entirely predictable due to a Biden administration rule change.

August is now the highest month this year for overall U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) migrant encounters, based on a report of preliminary agency data.

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Feds Flagged Nearly 75,000 Illegal Migrants as Potential National Security Risks

Admin

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) authorities flagged 74,904 illegal migrants nationwide for potentially posing risks to national security between October 2022 and August, according to CBP data obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Certain illegal migrants are deemed to be “special interest aliens” because they may have travel patterns that “possibly have a nexus to terrorism” or may come from countries with such ties, according to a 2019 Department of Homeland Security (DHS) fact sheet. Border Patrol agents encountered 25,627 “special interest” illegal migrants in fiscal year 2022, compared to 3,675 encounters in fiscal year 2021, according to internal agency data previously obtained by the DCNF; however, this data doesn’t account for all CBP encounters of special interest aliens.

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DHS Hides Monthly Number of Illegal Migrants Released into U.S., Former Immigration Judge Says

Just the News

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is deliberately not releasing the monthly totals of all illegal migrants who wind up getting released into the U.S. after they are encountered by U.S. authorities at the border, a former U.S. immigration judge says.

Andrew Arthur, who served for eight years as an immigration judge at the now-closed immigration court in York, Pennsylvania, told Just the News that DHS does track the total number of migrants released after an encounter with border agents, but making that data available to the public would paint the Biden Administration in a negative light.

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CBP Data Shows Nationwide Illegal Migrant Encounters Skyrocket Almost 300 Percent Since 2020

Just the News

U.S. Customers and Border Protection’s “nationwide encounters” of illegal migrants have gone up almost 300% since 2020, which was former President Trump’s last fiscal year in office, according to a Just the News review of the latest CBP data.

Nationwide encounters of illegal migrants in FY2022 were 2.7 million, the highest total since FY2020, when nationwide encounters stood at 646,000. 

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Senators Kelly, Sinema Want Answers After Arizona Gets Three Percent of Federal Migrant Funding They Helped Pass

Tom Pappert

Arizona Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Kristen Sinema (I-AZ) have asked for answers from three federal agencies after the state received just $23.9 million of more than $800 million in funding they helped secure to fund private organizations that house illegal immigrants released into the United States after being encountered by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) during their transit across the border.

In a letter addressed to DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and the heads of the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the senators warned that Pima County may be unable to support the influx of migrants in April 2024. They noted that New York City received over four times more funding than Arizona.

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Illegal Immigrant Crossings on the Arizona Border Increase

ADN America

The number of apprehensions of undocumented immigrants by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents at the US-Mexico border increased between June and July, according to new data released by the agency on Friday.

The number of migrant encounters along the southern border in July increased to 132,652 from 99,545 crossings in June. According to officials, the month-over-month increase was due to the large number of families crossing the border, which nearly doubled between the two months and led to 60,161 arrests. Almost 40% of migrant families came from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

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Border Encounters of Migrants with Suspected Terror Ties Jumped 15 Percent Last Month

Just the News

The number of migrants with suspected terror ties encountered at U.S. “land border ports of entry” increased 15% in one month, according to the latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

A total amount of individuals who appear on the terrorist watchlist caught at ports of entry jumped from 382 to 442 after CBP publicly released its July 2023 operational data. So far into fiscal year 2023, 70 have been caught at the southwest border and 372 have been caught at the northern border. 

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Federal Authorities See Massive 33 Percent Spike in Illegal Immigration at Southern Border

Admin

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) encountered a surge in migrants at the southern border in July after the Biden administration claimed success in the implementation of new policies and programs, according to federal data released Friday.

CBP recorded 183,503 migrant encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border in July, according to the data. The Biden administration has touted the creation of new legal pathways for migrants to get to the U.S. following the expiration of the Title 42 expulsion order in May as the reason CBP migrant encounters dropped from 206,701 in May to 144,566 in June.

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Nearly 165,000 Apprehended at Southern Border in July

The Center Square

At least 164,753 foreign nationals were apprehended or reported evading capture after illegally entering the southwest border in July, according to preliminary Border Patrol data obtained by The Center Square.

This includes 137,593 apprehensions and 27,160 gotaways. “Gotaways” is the official U.S. Customs and Border Protection term that refers to the number of people who are 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. In July, the most gotaways were reported in El Paso and Tucson sectors, as they have been nearly every month this year.

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Arrests of Noncitizens with Criminal Convictions at Border at Record Highs

The Center Square

If the current trajectory continues, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Field Operations agents are on track this fiscal year to arrest the greatest number of illegal foreign nationals with criminal convictions in recorded history.

By contrast, Border Patrol apprehensions of gang members and weapons seizures are down significantly, and a former border chief tells The Center Square those numbers are down because far fewer agents are in the field – between ports of entries – to make such seizures and apprehensions.

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More than 175,000 Came Through Southern U.S. Border in June

The Center Square

Over 175,000 people came through the southern border in June, according to newly published U.S. Customs and Border Protection data and preliminary data first published by The Center Square. 

The official CBP data published on Tuesday isn’t as straightforward as it normally is, possibly due to a recent shakeup at CBP with outgoing chiefs leaving June 30. A press release issued on Tuesday doesn’t include data typically published every month.  

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Law Enforcement Experts Warn of ‘Another 9-11’ After Bungled Release of Migrant Tied to Terrorism

Just the News

Former law enforcement officials are warning of potential terrorist attacks and a repeat of 9/11 following a Homeland Security Department watchdog report that exposed government bungling that allowed an illegal immigrant on the terrorist watchlist to be released into the U.S. and roam free for two weeks before he was apprehended.

According to a report released by the DHS’s Office of Inspector General, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released an illegal immigrant on the terrorist watchlist last year, and due to a lack of coordination, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) took more than two weeks to arrest the individual.

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Illegal Border Crossers Since 2021 Total More than Individual Populations of 38 States

The Center Square

The number of illegal border crossings at the northern and southern borders and all ports of entry since January 2021 totals more than 8 million people, greater than the individual populations of 38 U.S. states.

Put another way, the number of foreign nationals from all over the world believed to be primarily illegally entering the U.S. is comparable to the populations of eight Delawares, four New Mexicos, two Oklahomas or more than 13 Wyomings.

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Biden Admin Taps New Border Chief

Admin

The Biden administration has tapped Jason Owens to lead Border Patrol next, according to an internal agency email sent by Acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Troy Miller obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Owens has served in the agency for 25 years and is currently chief of the Border Patrol’s Del Rio sector in Texas. Outgoing Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz announced his retirement on May 30 after overseeing the agency during a time of record migration at the southern border, where CBP recorded more than 2.3 million migrant encounters in fiscal year 2022 alone.

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Biden Admin Will Admit Thousands More Migrants Each Month Through Phone App

Admin

The Biden administration will expand its program to legalize migrants to accept roughly 40,000 per month starting in June, according to CBS News.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will continue to evaluate expanding the program, according to CBS News. Between January, when the program launched, and April, more than 79,000 migrants have scheduled appointments using CBP One, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

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‘These Numbers Are Staggering:’ Chinese Migrants Continue to Surge Across Southern Border

Admin
Chinese illegal immigrants

The influx of Chinese migrants crossing the southern border continued through April, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.

Border Patrol encountered 3,182 migrants from China at the U.S.-Mexico border in April alone, according to CBP data. Chinese migrants often pay hefty smuggling fees to reach the U.S., where they have been found with large sums of U.S. currency, according to Border Patrol agents who recently spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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Biden to End Familial DNA Testing at Border, Key Deterrent to Fraud and Child Trafficking

Just the News
Illegal alien Processing center

The Biden administration is set to end familial DNA testing at the US-Mexico border, which has been key to preventing the fraudulent entry of many illegal immigrants and mitigating child trafficking, according to a memo obtained by Just The News.

The DNA testing was originally implemented in the Trump-era and utilized by Customs Border Protection – following a court order related to the separation of migrant children from their families and evidence drug cartels were using children to create fake family units to sneak illegal immigrants across the border.

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Migrant Child Dies in Federal Custody, Marking Third Such Death in Two Months

Admin

A migrant child died in federal custody, marking the third such death in roughly two months, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

An eight-year-old girl died in Border Patrol custody in Harlingen, Texas, after experiencing a medical emergency, CBP said in a statement late Wednesday. This is the third migrant child to die in the past two months, after a migrant child died in federal custody days before, and another died in mid-March.

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More Than 100 Known, Suspected Terrorists Apprehended at Southern Border Fiscal Year to Date

The Center Square

An Afghan national on the federal Terrorist Screening Dataset (TSDS) was apprehended attempting to enter the U.S. illegally near the Otay Mesa Port of Entry in San Diego, California.

The TSDS is the federal government’s database that includes sensitive information about terrorist identities. It originated as a consolidated terrorist watch list “to house information on known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) but has evolved over the last decade to include additional individuals who represent a potential threat to the United States, including known affiliates of watch listed individuals,” CBP states.

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Arizona Border City Prepares for the End of Title 42 as Immigrants at Federal Stations Relocate

Neil Jones
Illegal migrants at a border fence

The City of Bisbee released a statement Monday outlining what it is currently doing to prepare for the expiration of Title 42 on Thursday, which is expected to cause a mass influx of immigrants seeking to enter the country across the southern border.

“The Mayor [Ken Budge] and City Staff met with Cochise County Emergency Management staff and the leadership of the [Customs and Border Patrol] CBP Brian Terry Station today,” the city shared. “We were briefed on the resources that are expected to be available to handle immigrants moving forward from local, state and federal agencies. The emphasis is on moving these now-legal immigrants from the border to their final locations or sheltering them in places that can handle a large flow of immigrants.”

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Tennessee U.S. Rep. Mark Green Blasts President Biden for Sending Troops to the Southern Border to Help Move Illegals into Country

Kaitlin Housler

Tennessee U.S. Representative and chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security Mark Green (R-TN-07) condemned the Biden administration for approving an increase of 1,500 military personnel to “supplement U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) efforts” on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Green accused the Biden administration of “using our troops to facilitate the demise of our homeland security, instead of securing our borders.”

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Whistleblower: U.S. Government Is ‘Middleman’ in Massive Migrant Child Trafficking Ring

Admin

On Wednesday, a whistleblower is set to testify before Congress with bombshell claims that the federal government has essentially become a “middleman” in a child trafficking ring along the southern border, an operation that is allegedly worth billions.

According to Fox News, the hearing before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement will be titled “The Biden Border Crisis: Exploitation of Unaccompanied Alien Children.” The focus of the hearing will be the spike in the number of “unaccompanied children” (UACs) during the border crisis under Biden’s watch.

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Nearly 270,000 Apprehensions, Gotaways at Southern Border in March

The Center Square

There were nearly 270,000 apprehensions and gotaways reported of foreign nationals who illegally entered the U.S. at the southern border last month, according to official data released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and data The Center Square obtained from a Border Patrol agent.

CBP reported that encounters of illegal foreign nationals processed at ports of entry in all nine southwest Border Patrol sectors in March totaled 191,900, up nearly 23% from 156,138 in February.

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Florida Attorney General Calls on Congress to Impeach DHS Secretary Mayorkas

The Center Square

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is urging Congress to “begin impeachment proceedings immediately” of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. She cites several reasons to justify her request, including claiming he’s violated federal law, lied multiple times under oath before Congress, and is endangering American lives.

In a letter addressed to five Republican congressional leaders Tuesday, she urged them “to act to protect the American people and impeach Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Secretary Mayorkas is directly responsible, and his actions have caused our unprecedented border crisis.”

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Border Patrol Union Signals Concern Over Proposed Biden Immigration Policy

Admin

The Biden administration’s proposed “Safe Third Country” agreement attempting to crack down on an expected surge in illegal immigration at the southern border has a major loophole that still allows migrants to be released into the country en masse, according to a document the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) sent to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Daily Caller News Foundation exclusively obtained.

The policy, which was proposed in anticipation of the end of the Title 42 public health expulsion order on May 11, would make migrants seeking asylum that already passed through a safe country on the way to the U.S. ineligible for asylum. The Border Patrol union raised its concerns to DHS, asserting that the rule would still allow for “catch and release” because of loopholes, such as making a claim of credible fear to trigger the need for years-long adjudication, according to the NBPC response.

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Border Authorities Detail Smuggling Routes, Warn of Greater Surge in Chinese Illegally Crossing Into US

Admin

Border authorities in the U.S. are expecting a further increase in the number of Chinese migrants crossing illegally at the southern border, and have identified key ways they are entering the country, according to an internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) document exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The document, which was circulated via an internal email to CBP personnel, warns of more Chinese nationals entering the U.S. via the southern border due to a broader message from smugglers about routes into the country. The document details key smuggling routes, and notes that the Chinese nationals are entering in higher numbers due to religious persecution against the Christian faith.

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Mayorkas Launches Program to Combat Fentanyl Smuggling at the Border

Admin

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the launch of a program to combat the surge in illicit fentanyl smuggling at the southern border.

Mayorkas announced “Operation Blue Lotus” Tuesday during a visit to the Port of Nogales, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has made large fentanyl seizures, to deploy Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigation (HSI) agents to the ports to help collect intelligence on drug cartels to create criminal cases against them. CBP illicit fentanyl seizures at the southern border for fiscal year 2023 are on pace to surpass fiscal year 2022’s seizure of roughly 14,000 pounds of the synthetic narcotic.

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January Migrant Encounters Hit New Low While Biden Admin Paroles Migrants into U.S.

Admin

Federal authorities encountered a new low of more than 150,000 migrants at the southern border in January while the Biden administration paroles thousands of others into the U.S., according to data U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released Friday.

CBP encountered 156,274 migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in January, according to the agency. The new low coincides with a new series of policies the Biden administration began implementing for migrants to enter the country using parole authority.

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Appoints State’s First ‘Border Czar’

Admin

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appointed his state’s first “border czar,” during a news conference in San Benito, Texas, Monday.

Abbott chose Mike Banks for the role, which solely entails combatting the destruction he says the federal government has caused. President Joe Biden has overseen record surges in illegal migration at the southern border, with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recording more than 2.3 million migrant encounters in fiscal year 2022.

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More than 200,000 Migrants Came to U.S. in December amid Mounting Border Crisis: CBP

Just the News

Authorities encountered 216,162 migrants at the southwest land border in December of last year, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

That figures marks an 11 percent increase in unique encounters from November of the same year. The federal agency attributed the surge to influx of Cuban and Nicaraguan individuals fleeing authoritarian regimes in those countries.

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Former Arizona Border Patrol Agent Sentenced to Almost 13 Years for Firearm Distribution and Smuggling Narcotics

Neil Jones

The Arizona District of the Department of Justice revealed Tuesday that a former border patrol agent, Ramon Monreal-Rodriguez, 36, of Vail, Arizona, will be placed behind bars for 152 months for his role in two federal criminal cases.

“The men and women of the United States Border Patrol safeguard our frontier with compassion and dignity,” said United States Attorney Gary Restaino. “Most Border Patrol Agents are excellent public servants who diligently interdict contraband like guns and drugs. For those who aren’t and don’t, the Bureau of Prisons has plenty of room.”

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Border Patrol Apprehend Record Number of Cubans Attempting to Illegally Enter Florida

The Center Square

Nearly every day, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents, working with multiple law enforcement partners, apprehend Cubans attempting to enter Florida illegally. They’re also apprehending other foreign nationals, including sex offenders.

They’re doing so as U.S. Coast Guard crews continue to apprehend a record number of Cubans. In fiscal year 2022, they apprehended a record high 6,182 Cubans at sea compared to 49 in fiscal 2020.

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Arizona Sheriff Sides with Border Crossers, Says Ducey’s Makeshift Container Wall ‘Illegal Dumping’

Just the News

An Arizona county sheriff is siding with protesters and demanding for Gov. Doug Ducey (R) to stop sending shipping containers to the border for a makeshift wall. 

Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway said Ducey’s order to use containers as the border wall is “illegal dumping,” and he plans on arresting construction crews and security personnel if they come to his county, Fox 10 Phoenix reported Saturday.

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DEA Phoenix Seizes over 8 Million Fentanyl Pills During Operation

Neil Jones

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration announced Wednesday that an enforcement operation spanning from May to September seized millions of illicit fentanyl pills.

“On the frontline as we race to save lives, DEA Arizona continues to seize historic amounts of deadly fentanyl,” said Cheri Oz, the Phoenix DEA Special Agent in Charge of the operation. “It is terrifying that the drug cartels are mimicking candy to make fentanyl appear harmless. We need your help spreading the word about the dangers of fentanyl. It’s a matter of life and death.”

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Arizona Officials React to August Southern Border Encounter Statistics

Neil Jones

New southern border encounter statistics from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed that officials encountered over 200,000 migrants at the border for the sixth month in a row, which Gov. Doug Ducey said is especially harsh on Arizona border towns.

“Border towns bear the weight of this record illegal immigration. Government services, hospitals and food banks are strapped. The Yuma sector had more than 24,000 migrant encounters in August – almost a quarter of the town’s population,” tweeted Ducey.

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Maricopa County Indicts Two Women Transporting over 850,000 Fentanyl Pills

Neil Jones

The Maricopa County Grand Jury indicted two women Monday for possessing over 850,000 counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl, enough to cause potentially millions of overdoses.

“Two out of five counterfeit pills that come across our border are laced with lethal doses of fentanyl. These drugs are being marketed to our youth in the most proliferous ways and are being produced in candy-like colors. We must hold those who bring these lethal pills into our community accountable,” said County Attorney Rachel Mitchell.

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Border Patrol Agents Seize Record Amounts of Deadly Fentanyl, Meth in Arizona, Texas

The Center Square

U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents are seizing record amounts of fentanyl and meth in Arizona and Texas brought in by Mexican cartel operatives and foreign nationals trying to enter the U.S. illegally.

In just five separate inspections ahead of Labor Day weekend, for example, officers seized 625,000 pills in Nogales, Arizona, which borders Sonora, Mexico, Michael Humphries, CBP Director of the Nogales Port of Entry, said.

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CBP in Arizona Rescues Infant, Toddler ‘Left to Die’ in Sonoran Desert

Peter D'Abrosca

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said over the weekend that it rescued two young children who were “left to die” by human smugglers in the scorching Arizona desert. 

“Yesterday smugglers left an infant and a toddler in the Sonoran Desert to die. This is cruelty. And it is gut-wrenching. I commend our agents for their quick response to this dreadful incident and to every incident in which migrant lives are at stake,” CBP’s Chief Patrol Agent in the Tucson Sector John R. Modlin said. 

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