By Daniel Stefanski |
A major U.S. Border Patrol sector’s social media communication about the ongoing crisis on the ground has gone dark.
Last week, John R. Modlin, the Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, posted to “X” that his sector’s “social media accounts will be paused until further notice in light of the ongoing migration surge.” Chief Modlin expressed his appreciation for viewers’ “understanding and continued support during this challenging time.”
The post from Chief Modlin garnered significant attention – and subsequent outrage – as individuals opined on the reasons for the stoppage of the flow of weekly information from this sector on these accounts. Chief Modlin appeared to delete his post later, adding an update, writing, “Apologies for my earlier hastily written statement. To be clear, it is my intention to remain transparent.”
Chief Modlin explained that “in light of the ongoing migration surge, all Tucson Sector Border Patrol social media accounts will be temporarily reduced to maximize our available staffing in support of our current operational challenges. At this time, all available personnel are needed to address the unprecedented flow. The social media team will return once the situation permits.”
The CBP leader did reveal that his sector would “continue to post our Week in Review statistics, demonstrating the continued efforts of our agents and staff.”
The Tucson Border Sector has long been one of the nation’s most dangerous along the U.S.-Mexico boundary due to the proliferation of deadly drugs (such as fentanyl) and ‘gotaways.’ However, in the latter half of this year, this sliver of the border has become the busiest sector in more ways, attracting tens of thousands of individuals who are apprehended by agents. Chief Modlin’s regular posts on the work Tucson agents have done to triage the happenings on the ground have been extremely instructive for outsiders and stakeholders to understand the breadth of the crisis that continues to be exploited and exponentially grow with each passing month.
In the first month of Fiscal Year 2024, October, this sector reported over 55,000 encounters of illegal immigrants, which was a 140.8% increase over the previous year’s numbers for that month (22,938). Tucson Sector Officials recorded almost 374,000 arrests during the recently completed fiscal year.
These numbers, already significantly high for a portion of the U.S.-Mexico border, do not represent the number of ‘gotaways’ escaping detection and making their way around the interior of America’s homeland. Nor do these figures fill in another major gap of the border crisis, which is the rampant drug smuggling that occurs all throughout the border – but especially in the Tucson sector. Drug cartels and smugglers occupy the time of border agents with thousands of arrests per day, while running drugs and ‘gotaways’ through other unmanned corridors. These dangerous factors of the porous border continue to haunt law enforcement at all levels as they attempt to do everything they can to protect innocent men, women, and children from harm.
The skyrocketing numbers from the Tucson sector make it all the more important for government officials and agents on the ground to be as transparent as possible about the handling of this crisis.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
