The Tucson Border Sector continues to be one of the nation’s most active crossing zones as the weather shifts to a more favorable climate for migrants journeying to the United States.
On March 1, John R. Modlin, the Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, posted that there had been 11,800 apprehensions of illegal aliens in his region over the past week. He also noted that there were 195 federal criminal cases, 28 human smuggling cases, and 4 significant arrests during that time period.
Chief Modlin also revealed that Border Patrol agents had “detected, tracked, and apprehended 16 migrants dressed in camouflage in a remote area near Douglas, AZ.” This was a reminder to onlookers that, while many of the reported apprehensions are illegal aliens who essentially wait for Border Patrol to process them, there are many others who are attempting to make their way around law enforcement and into the heart of the country.
2/25: With support from #HPU and @cbpamo, 16 migrants dressed in camouflage were detected, tracked, and apprehended by #USBP agents in a remote area near Douglas, AZ, all of which were returned to Mexico. A great example of the persistent teamwork that occurs in Tucson Sector. pic.twitter.com/7wWQXMXMaW
On Saturday, Fox News reporter Bill Melugin wrote that “numbers [are] slowly ticking back up at the southern border moving into March.” He added information from his sources at CBP that “there were just over 7,000 migrant encounters [Friday] led by Tucson sector with 1,800+ apprehensions.”
NEW: Numbers slowly ticking back up at the southern border moving into March. Per CBP sources, there were just over 7,000 migrant encounters yesterday, led by Tucson sector w/ 1,800+ apprehensions. San Diego sector had 1,200+. El Paso sector had 1,200+ (majority in New Mexico).
Although Chief Modlin provides regular updates on generic numbers at the border, including criminals and other dangerous individuals who are caught by law enforcement, much is still unknown to officials about the identities of many of the people who are apprehended. NewsNation National Correspondent Ali Bradley recently posted that the United States government does not “have access to most criminal databases – nearly 170 nationalities have been encountered at the border but if the host nation doesn’t alert the U.S. the reality is, we likely won’t know if they have any history.”
TX: We don’t have access to most criminal databases—Nearly 170 nationalities have been encountered at the border but if the host nation doesn’t alert the U.S. the reality is, we likely won’t know if they have any history— "The problem, though, is that we're basically taking… pic.twitter.com/7FsydtjH05
Bradley added a reminder from former Yuma Border Patrol Chief Chris Clem, who recently said, “If the fingerprints come back with no record matches, if the pictures come back with no record matches, then we’re having to do this based on what they tell us…Border Patrol agents are in the people business. So, we can kind of oftentimes smell a rat. But it’s one of those things where there is an opportunity for somebody to get through that shouldn’t.”
We have been covering this extensively for months at @NewsNation — Here is when recently retired Yuma Border Patrol Chief @CClemOfficial told us, “If the fingerprints come back with no record matches, if the pictures come back with no record matches, then we're having to do this…
Arizona legislative Republicans have been hard at work this session – just as they were last year – to come up with solutions to help combat the crisis at the border and the security and humanitarian issues that are growing for communities across the state. However, most – if not all, of the Republicans’ proposals will be vetoed by Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs, who, although expressing interest in solving the issue and pointing blame at federal officials, has not been willing to sign legislation that would help the state and local law enforcement gain any more control over this very serious situation.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Smugglers continue to exploit the crisis at America’s southern border.
Earlier this month, the Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, John R. Modlin, reported that members of his team had discovered the existence of two cloned Border Patrol vehicles in the field. He revealed that both vehicles were “intercepted by Three Points Station agents,” and he applauded “our vigilant agents for their unwavering dedication.”
Second cloned #BorderPatrol vehicle intercepted by Three Points Station agents this week. Kudos to our vigilant agents for their unwavering dedication. The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). https://t.co/0v39RoTFu8
Chief Modlin’s post followed one from Jason Owens, the 26th Chief of the U.S. Border Patrol, who had disclosed that one of the vehicles was involved in “a human smuggling event.” Chief Owens stated that “one agent was assaulted during the arrest of the USC driver & 11 undocumented subjects,” and that “criminal prosecution for the assault is being pursued.”
2/15: USBP agents in Newfield, AZ interdicted a human smuggling event involving a cloned Border Patrol vehicle! One agent was assaulted during the arrest of the USC driver & 11 undocumented subjects. Criminal prosecution for the assault is being pursued. pic.twitter.com/r1UVtfxhYN
The “X” account for the Arizona Trooper’s FOP Lodge 32 weighed in on the news, writing, “The cartels are cloning Border Patrol vehicles AND assaulting Border Patrol Agents. This is beyond partisan talking points and virtue signaling. This is full blown anarchy and it has to stop.”
The crisis at the border continues to overwhelm Border Patrol agents and local law enforcement, as cartels and smugglers exploit the lawlessness for their benefit. The Tucson Border Sector, where the cloned vehicles were found, has been the epicenter of the border crisis, leading the nation in border apprehensions month after month.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Human smugglers assaulted a Border Patrol agent with rocks while he was arresting several illegal immigrants near San Luis, Arizona, earlier this week, Border Patrol reported. Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., called out the “lawlessness” of the incident.
“This lawlessness must come to an immediate halt,” Biggs said on Twitter.
Wishing this agent a speedy recovery.
Many folks streaming across our border right now are armed and dangerous.
Chief Patrol Agent Sean McGoffin said human smugglers threw rocks at the Border Patrol Agent hitting him in the head early Tuesday morning, leading to lacerations across the eye. An investigation is underway to bring those responsible to justice, according to Border Patrol.
“Wishing this agent a speedy recovery,” Biggs continued. “Many folks streaming across our border right now are armed and dangerous.”
McGoffin of the Yuma Sector Border Patrol said individuals were making an illegal entry into the area of the assault and the smugglers who were on the Mexican side of the border began throwing rocks.
The agent was taken to the hospital and is now on the road to recovery, according to McGoffin.
“The agent is doing okay,” McGoffin said. “We’re thankful for him being okay, but he did have to go and receive medical treatment. He’s currently not back to work yet, but we anticipate he will be in the near future, we’re just so thankful that he’s safe.”
McGoffin said that though overall assaults have been down over the previous year, every assault is serious and could be fatal.
Elizabeth Troutman is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send her news tips using this link.
A new wave of lawlessness is hitting America’s southern border.
Last week, Fox News reporter Bill Melugin shared a memo from the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector Intelligence Unit about “stolen/altered Guinea passports being encountered” in the region.
NEW: Per an internal alert sent out by Border Patrol’s Tucson, AZ sector intel unit, some illegal immigrants from Guinea are using fraudulent/altered passports to change their age & masquerade as unaccompanied minors in an effort to get into the U.S. The notice says agents have… pic.twitter.com/nV0vOmaEq4
The Border Patrol’s alert revealed the following information from intelligence gathered in the field:
Officials from the Guinean government may be advising people obtaining new passports they can change their age for them to have a better chance of entering the United States as minors. (most encounters are from adults claiming to be UAC’s)
Another migrant claimed an illicit group stole many blank passport books from the ministry in Conakry and has been selling and issuing the passports without the proper procedures.
It’s suspected that Guinean passports issued in Conakry after June of 2023 are most likely fraudulent or altered.
Melugin added that “hundreds of adult men from Guinea have been crossing illegally in the Tucson sector every day.”
The Fox News journalist also communicated a story from a couple of weeks ago, when he was in Lukeville, Arizona, and came across a Guinean man, who had just illegally entered the United States. Melugin posted that this man had told him that “he planned to go to Philadelphia” – likely based on an address that someone had procured for him.
When I was in Lukeville, AZ a couple weeks ago, I met this man from Guinea who had crossed illegally and said he was from the municipality of Conakry. He told me he planned to go to Philadelphia. When I asked him why, he didn’t know, and pulled out a piece of paper w/ address. pic.twitter.com/4zBNowQBsq
This week, Ali Bradley, a National Correspondent for NewsNation, reported that out of 806,000+ illegal immigrants who have crossed into the United States since October 1, almost 206,000 of those encounters have occurred in the Tucson Sector, where Lukeville lies. For a number of months, the Tucson Sector has led the country in apprehensions, leading to an unprecedented closure of the Lukeville Port of Entry in recent weeks. ‘Gotaways’ are not factored into the number of registered encounters from CBP.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
Law enforcement at the front lines of the border crisis is looking for new recruits.
Last week, the Chief Patrol Agent for the Detroit Sector of the United States Border Patrol, Robert Danley, posted a notice to “X” that his agency is hiring. Chief Danley shared information about hiring incentives and the link for interested men and women to apply.
— Chief Patrol Agent Robert Danley (@USBPChiefDTM) December 22, 2023
For years, the Border Patrol has been under duress from the deluge of illegal immigration across America’s southern border. The border has been ‘open,’ more or less, for decades, but the situation on the ground has reached unprecedented levels in the past ten years. Over the past three years, during the Biden Administration, the border crisis has arguably been at its peak, forcing the already thin ranks of Border Patrol agents to process hundreds of thousands of incoming illegal aliens.
According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, there were 19,357 Border Patrol agents in Fiscal Year 2022.
Border Patrol agents have faced new threats in 2023, in addition to their wearisome workload at their stations, leading many to wonder how many individuals would want to sign up for what this job has become. In October, the Vice President of the National Border Patrol Council, Art Del Cueto, posted a picture of online messages that contained threats and concerning solicitations about personal information for agents and members of their families.
The messages shared by Del Cueto included the following:
“We will pay for any addresses of border patrol agents!!”
“$200 your way if you get me a border patrol agent’s address”
“$1k if you get me they mommas address”
“We offer $$$ for information on BP agents”
“Top dollar on good info”
“I’ll post us torturing any bp agent u send”
Ali Bradley, a National Correspondent for NewsNation, shared additional insight from conversations with Border Patrol agents, stating that “the agency says the messages also show the intent to post the torture of BPAs on social media.”
NEW: “We will pay for any addresses of border patrol agents!!”@CBP sends out internal alert to agents after intercepting messages seeking the home addresses of agents and their families with an intent to do harm— The text message obtained by CBP states, “$200 your way if you… pic.twitter.com/98PA8pYdWv
Earlier this month, two wives of Border Patrol agents joined Fox News to talk about the crisis and their perceptions of the lawlessness through the eyes of their husbands. One of the women, Alison Anderson, said, “We have literally watched our border be handed over… he often talks about, why did our brothers die? Why did people die defending this country for this administration to sit there, lie about what they’re doing and hand over our border and our national security?”
In Fiscal Year 2023, there were 2,475,669 encounters of illegal immigrants at the southern border – in addition to the ‘gotaways’ who slipped by agents. Through the first two months of the newest fiscal year (October and November), there were 483,404 apprehensions at the southern border. Both months have outpaced FY 23s figures so far.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
