Border Patrol chiefs from nine sectors along the US-Mexico border warned a House committee about the “unprecedented” number of illegal migrant crossings that occurred in 2023 and the threat that represents for the security of both American citizens and the migrants themselves.
Depositions taken by the House Homeland Security Committee show that senior officials differed in their assessment of the causes of the historic border surge, but agreed on both the humanitarian dangers and national security concerns, according to reports. transcripts of his comments reviewed by The Post.
“I didn’t expect to see the numbers like that. It has never happened before in the Big Bend sector,” Chief Patrol Agent Sean McGoffin said of his Texas region in an April 25 interview.
“There is certainly no precedent for seeing an increase or a spike,” Chief Deputy Patrol Agent Dustin Caudle of the Yuma Sector in Arizona told the House panel on September 28. “The volume we are seeing recently, in my opinion, in my career [what] “What I have seen is what I would consider unprecedented.”
The Border Patrol chiefs in the nine sectors along the US-Mexico border testified before a House committee about the “unprecedented” migrant crossings that occurred in 2023. Getty Images The chief agent of the Tucson Sector Patrol, John Modlin, said the increase has been “demoralizing” for him and his agents who are fighting “to keep the border as secure as possible.” Getty Images
“In Tucson, because of the incredible amount of heat there is, the summer months tend to be very cold,” Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin testified July 26 from his sector in Arizona. “What’s happening now is unheard of.”
“I looked at 10 years of data on what the summer months should be like,” he added. “[W]We should have about 17,000 arrests in July, you know, taking into account 10 years of aggregate data. Instead, we are at 26,000. So, at this time of year, the most dangerous, we are seeing one of the largest flows we have ever seen.”
Modlin said the surge has been “demoralizing” for him and his agents, who he said are fighting “to keep the border as secure” as possible.
San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke added that the unprecedented number of migrant crossings threatens the safety of both Americans and illegal aliens. Sandy Huffaker
Several interviews were held before the end of Title 42, a pandemic-era health policy that allowed for quick expulsions, but chiefs anticipated border crossings in fiscal 2023 would surpass the record hit the previous year.
Chief Jason Owens, who oversaw the Del Rio Sector in Texas for “most of last year” before being promoted, said his region “led the nation day-to-day in terms of arrests,” which was “the first year that [encounters] had surpassed the Rio Grande Valley Sector.”
“At the end of the fiscal year, we finished fiscal year 22 [Oct. 1, 2021, to Sept. 30, 2022] with just over 480,000 arrests and around 200,000 known ‘escapes,'” Owens said, referring to immigrants who enter the country illegally without being caught.
Customs and Border Protection data reveals that agents encountered more than 2.4 million migrants at the southwest border in fiscal year 2023, surpassing an all-time high set in fiscal year 2022. Twitter / @USBPChiefDRT
“In FY21, there was more activity than in the previous 9 fiscal years combined for the Del Rio sector,” he told House committee staff during his May 9 testimony.
“So far this year, it has been the Rio Grande Valley Sector, the El Paso Sector and the Tucson Sector that have been, on a day-to-day basis, busier than us. That’s until May 11. [when Title 42 ended]and we don’t know what’s going to happen after that.”
Owens added that while migrants have traveled to the United States “for economic reasons” since he started at the agency in the 1990s, most were barred from entry and opted for “voluntary return” to Mexico before attempting re-enter.
Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens, who previously led the Del Rio Sector, said that “most of last year” his Texas region “led the nation day-to-day in terms of apprehensions.”
Many migrants have been “hopeful” about their path to U.S. citizenship, San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke told the House Homeland Security Committee during his interview, which he attributed to US policies. President Biden.
But Heitke added that the unprecedented number of migrant crossings threatens the safety of Americans and poses risks to illegal aliens.
Customs and Border Protection data reveals that agents encountered more than 2.4 million migrants at the southwest border in fiscal year 2023, surpassing the all-time high of approximately 2.3 million migrant encounters set in the fiscal year 2022.
Many immigrants have been “hopeful” about their path to U.S. citizenship, Heitke told the House Homeland Security Committee, which he attributed to President Biden’s policies.
At least 172 people who were detained by border agents in the last fiscal year were found to be on the FBI’s terrorism watch list, although little about their cases has been disclosed to Congress, prompting alarm from lawmakers.
The border crossings have also strained federal law enforcement capabilities and detention centers, according to patrol chiefs, as well as funding for non-governmental groups that deal with migrants.
Government costs for housing and care nationwide could reach $451 billion annually for detained migrants and known “fugitives” who have entered the United States since 2021, according to a report from the House Homeland Security Committee. House of Representatives published earlier this month.
The border crossings have also strained federal law enforcement capabilities and detention centers, according to patrol chiefs, as well as funding for non-governmental groups.
In recent testimony before Congress, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas revealed that more than 600,000 “leaks” evaded detection by border agents in fiscal year 2023, stating that this has been a problem for “decades” and represents “a powerful example of a failed immigration system.”
Another 900,000 immigrants entered the country legally from the southwest border under humanitarian parole in the last fiscal year, allowing them to apply for asylum.
CBP has implemented several policies to try to speed up the process for asylum seekers, including expansions to a phone application that debuted during former President Donald Trump’s administration, as well as a mandate for migrants to apply for entry to any safe third country by the one they travel. on the way to the USA
CBP has implemented several policies to try to speed up the process for asylum seekers.Juan Manuel Blanco/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
When Title 42 ended in May, the Biden administration also unveiled an Expedited Family Removal Management Program to speed up deportations, but reports show that most immigrants in the program are still released into the US. .while they wait for the decision.
The Department of Homeland Security resumed direct repatriation flights for Venezuelan citizens in October, a policy that Mayorkas recently told Congress was “a very powerful example” of the type of reforms needed.
“The asylum system needs to be reformed from top to bottom,” Mayorkas also stated.
“The asylum system needs to be reformed from top to bottom,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in recent testimony before Congress. Shutterstock
Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) pressed the Cabinet secretary, asking whether “a more immediate consequence” for other “recalcitrant countries” would cause “an immediate drop in numbers.”
“Things have not changed in Venezuela, but they have changed in the way we are applying that policy,” Lankford emphasized. “And we saw a dramatic decline in numbers there.”
“Senator, our model is to build legal avenues and offer consequences to people who did not take advantage of those legal avenues,” Mayorkas responded. “Our ability to repatriate people to their home countries when they do not qualify for assistance under our laws is critically important.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn