Border Patrol Tucson Sector Agents Apprehend 1,600 Illegal Immigrants In One Week

Border Patrol Tucson Sector Agents Apprehend 1,600 Illegal Immigrants In One Week

By Matthew Holloway |

John R. Modlin, the Chief Patrol Agent (CPA) of the U.S. Border Patrol Tucson Sector released a statement on Tuesday announcing that the Douglas Station Field Training Unit tracked, located, and apprehended three illegal immigrants west of Douglas, AZ. They were the most recent of over 1,600 illegal immigrants who were captured in the first week of December.

According to the posts on X and Facebook, “Douglas Station Field Training Unit tracked 3 migrants west of Douglas, AZ. As agents approached, 1 migrant ran, leaving behind a Guatemalan woman and her 5-year-old child. With the assistance of a USBP #K9, agents were able to apprehend the 17-year-old Mexican national.”

The 17-year-old Mexican national who fled was pictured in the post wearing carpet-like slips over his shoes designed to disguise his tracks, as well as desert camouflage leading to speculation that he may have been guiding the Guatemalan woman and child.

The apprehensions represented the third major interception in a matter of three days. Modlin’s office also posted imagery from the capture of five illegal immigrants from Guatemala and Mexico near SR-90 on December 1.

Another five illegal immigrants were arrested on Dec. 1st after the driver of the vehicle they were being smuggled in failed to yield on SR-85. Modlin’s office noted that “the occupants attempted to abscond into the desert but were quickly apprehended.”

In a post to X on Dec. 9, Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens shared footage of a dramatic helicopter rescue from the Arizona desert explaining, “USBP agents in Tucson Sector, with local sheriff’s air support, rescued an injured migrant in Arizona’s rugged mountains. BORSTAR agents provided critical medical care before airlifting the individual to safety. This highlights the harsh journey migrants face and the heroic efforts of our agents.”

In reviewing the week, as of December 6th, Modlin reported his sector had made 1,600 apprehensions, leading to 171 federal criminal cases. They also seized 19 lbs. of methamphetamine, 9 lbs. of cocaine, 6.7 lbs. of Heroin, and $2,032. They stopped 18 human smuggling events and 7 Narcotics Events. And they made six rescues.

Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.

Polls Show Consistent Growth In Public Support For Mass Deportation Of Illegal Immigrants

Polls Show Consistent Growth In Public Support For Mass Deportation Of Illegal Immigrants

By Matthew Holloway |

A series of polls released over the past year have shown that public support for the mass deportation of illegal immigrants represents a majority-driven mandate from the American people which cuts across racial, political, and economic lines. Congressional leaders from Arizona have emerged as the most fervent voices reflecting the widely accepted viewpoint.

As noted by Cronkite News, President-Elect Donald J. Trump drew direct attention to this in remarks he made announcing his victory when he touted “an unprecedented and powerful mandate.”

“They’re coming by the thousands,” Trump warned in a video posted on Truth Social. “We will secure our borders. And we will restore sovereignty.”

A Scripps News/Ipsos survey presented findings that approximately 54% of the American public, including 25% of Democrats, an overwhelming 86% of Republicans, and even a strong majority of 58% of Independents agreed that they “strongly,” or “somewhat” support “Deporting those who are in the country illegally.”

Similarly, an Axios Vibes survey by The Harris Poll released in April found conclusively that 51% of the American public, with 42% of Democrats, 68% of Republicans, and even a 45% share of Latinos and 40% of Black Americans polled found they “support mass deportations of undocumented immigrants.”

Finally, a Fox News Poll, by Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research released in mid-October in the final weeks of the election cycle made it quite clear that “Since 2015, support for deporting those living in the U.S. illegally is up across the board, but most notably among nonwhite voters (+24 points favor), Republicans (+21 points), rural voters (+20), urban voters (+19), and men (+16).  Democrats are also more likely to favor this now but by a smaller 8-point margin.” The increase over time in acceptance of mass deportation has been profound.

Congressman Eli Crane (R-AZ) has consistently criticized the Department of Homeland Security under the Biden administration and frequently sparred with Secretary of the Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. In April, Crane was reported by Forbes as scorching Mayorkas.

Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ) shared a video of Trump explaining his mass deportation policy in a post to X in March 2023 with the caption: “We need mass deportations and NO AMNESTY.”

Congressman Andy Biggs (R-AZ) posted likewise in January 2023 writing, “All illegal aliens must be deported. Period.”

Trump’s selection of former acting director of ICE, Tom Homan, as “border czar,” has further energized the conversation around the mass deportation plan Trump promised during his campaign.

The morale of Border Patrol agents has also improved significantly according to reports. National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez told Fox News in an interview that the agency’s morale is “through the roof,” adding, “We’ve received hundreds of calls, texts, emails, just saying how happy the agents are.”

“There are a lot of agents that had originally said that they would retire if President Trump did not win. And now those same agents are saying they’re going to hold back on their retirement because they want to serve under this administration again, because they know exactly how it was during this first administration, and they know this one’s going to be even better,” he said.

Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.

Report: One-Third Of Border Patrol’s Billion Dollar Surveillance System Doesn’t Work

Report: One-Third Of Border Patrol’s Billion Dollar Surveillance System Doesn’t Work

By Matthew Holloway |

Reporting released last week could redefine the border issue for Republicans and worsen already negative views of the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of border security. An internal memo from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) obtained by NBC News revealed that 30% of the multi-billion dollar border surveillance system is non-functional.

“Nearly one-third of the cameras in the Border Patrol’s primary surveillance system along the southern U.S. border are not working, according to an internal agency memo sent in early October,” NBC News reported.

“The large-scale outage affects roughly 150 of the 500 cameras perched on surveillance towers along the U.S.-Mexico border.”  According to the outlet “severe technical problems,” have beset the networked camera system known as the Remote Video Surveillance System. Border Patrol officials who spoke anonymously cast the blame on outdated equipment and outstanding repair issues.

The system has been in operation since 2011 and was designed to “survey large areas without having to commit hundreds of agents in vehicles to perform the same function.” Two CBP officials told NBC that while some repairs were affected in early October, more than 150 repair orders are still outstanding and some areas of the border are still not visible to CBP surveillance as a result.

A CBP spokesman told the outlet that 300 new towers using more advanced technology have been installed along the border, but didn’t address the gaps described by the anonymous officials.

“CBP continues to install newer, more advanced technology that embrace artificial intelligence and machine learning to replace outdated systems, reducing the need to have agents working non-interdiction functions,” the CBP spokesman said.

As reported by Reason, spiraling costs began with a $1 billion outlay in 2010 that notably led to a 2017 GAO report filled with damning internal and external assessments “regarding the performance, cost, and schedule for implementing the systems,” that resulted in the cancellation of future installations of the SBInet systems.

In a similar accounting, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), addressing NBC News’ findings wrote, “U.S. Border Surveillance Towers Have Always Been Broken.”

EFF Director of Investigations Dave Maass wrote that the report is not a bombshell, but said, “What should actually be shocking is that Congressional leaders are acting shocked, like those who recently sent a letter about the towers to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. These revelations simply reiterate what people who have been watching border technology have known for decades: Surveillance at the U.S.-Mexico border is a wasteful endeavor that is ill-equipped to respond to an ill-defined problem.”

Maas referred to a 2021 study from the DHS Inspector General which indicated that the situation had not improved.

“CBP faced additional challenges that reduced the effectiveness of its existing technology. Border Patrol officials stated they had inadequate personnel to fully leverage surveillance technology or maintain current information technology systems and infrastructure on site. Further, we identified security vulnerabilities on some CBP servers and workstations not in compliance due to disagreement about the timeline for implementing DHS configuration management requirements.

CBP is not well-equipped to assess its technology effectiveness to respond to these deficiencies. CBP has been aware of this challenge since at least 2017 but lacks a standard process and accurate data to overcome it.

Overall, these deficiencies have limited CBP’s ability to detect and prevent the illegal entry of noncitizens who may pose threats to national security.”

A set of follow-up plans, the Arizona Border Surveillance Technology Plan and the Southwest Border Technology Plan, then came into effect priced at approximately $6 billion and were successfully combined into the Integrated Surveillance Towers network in 2022. But the integration of these systems has evidently had little effect. With Maas noting, “Border authorities and their supporters in Congress are continuing to promote unproven, AI-driven technologies as the latest remedy for years of failures, including the ones voiced in the memo obtained by NBC News.”

Matthew Holloway is a senior reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.

Border Patrol Union Endorses Trump During Arizona Trip

Border Patrol Union Endorses Trump During Arizona Trip

By Daniel Stefanski |

Former President Donald J. Trump picked up a significant endorsement while campaigning in the Grand Canyon State earlier this week.

On Sunday, President Trump appeared in front of thousands at a rally in Prescott Valley, where he was endorsed by the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) for his bid for the White House.

At the event, Paul Perez, NBPC’s President, said, “If we allow border czar Harris to win this election, every city, every community in this great country is going to hell. The untold millions of people unvetted, who she has allowed into this country that are committing murders, rapes, robberies, burglaries and every other crime will continue to put our country in peril.”

Perez added, “Only one man can fix that. That is Donald J. Trump. He has always stood with the men and women who protect this border, who put their lives on the line for the country.”

Art Del Cueto, the Vice President of the NBPC, stated, “Zero question as to who should lead this country. The time to save America is NOW!!”

State Senator Janae Shamp, one of the top border hawks of the Arizona Legislature, responded to the announcement, posting, “They know exactly what is at stake and who can fix it! God bless each and everyone of these men and women for standing for all Americans!”

The endorsement from the NBPC was reported as unanimous for the 45th President of the United States.

According to a press release from the Trump-Vance campaign, Trump promised to “hire 10,000 new Border Patrol agents and ask Congress to immediately approve a 10% raise for all agents, and a $10,000 retention and signing bonus.”

Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.

The Economic Consequences Of Our Feckless Immigration System

The Economic Consequences Of Our Feckless Immigration System

By Dr. Thomas Patterson |

Free-market economist Milton Friedman was hardly anti-immigration. He acknowledged that, pre-1914, immigrants came “for a better life for them and their children. In the main they succeeded,” broadly benefiting their adopted country.

But there was an important caveat. “It is one thing to have free immigration to jobs. It is another thing to have free immigration to welfare.” Immigrants dependent on public benefits don’t boost their host country. They have the effect of “a reduction of everybody to the same, uniform level.”

Leftists may not like it, but Friedman was right. We’re about to learn the lesson good and hard.

The tens of millions of “undocumented” immigrants now arriving in America have a much different outlook than immigrants of a century ago. In short, today’s immigrants don’t work that much.

A study of Census data by the Atlanta Federal Reserve reported that while over half of new jobs created in the last two years have gone to illegal immigrants, so many have come that barely half of working age, non-college immigrants are in the labor force. Five of six native Americans 25 through 64 regularly work.

The Border Patrol recorded over 10 million illegal immigrants processed during the Biden years plus countless millions not detected. Yet foreign-born employment increased by only 2.32 million. So, who is supporting the rest? We are.

California is the poster child for dependent illegal immigrants. There they get taxpayer-funded health insurance, food stamps, housing allowances, and myriad other benefits, costing $22.8 billion in state and local taxes alone, according to the pro-immigration Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy. Yet this for a population that generated just $8.5 billion in income.

Moreover, many of the programs are direct federal subsidies which means we all participate in their funding. Beyond all this is the escalation in spending by NGOs and philanthropic agencies to house, clothe, and feed the millions of “newcomers” being bused around the country, again at our expense.

The increased pressure on the federal budget, which immigration “hawks” warned against not long ago, has already been normalized. The discussion has subtly passed from whether illegal immigrants should be included in public benefits to how this should be accomplished. Deportation, once assumed for those who failed their asylum hearings (which most do), is now regarded as logistically and morally impossible.

It’s no mystery why our welfare system is a worldwide magnet. Average benefits received by working age households have risen from $7,352 in 1967 to $64,700 in 2022, adjusted for inflation. Welfare spending now consumes 72.6 percent of unobligated revenues (an accounting which doesn’t count payroll taxes or mandatory interest payments) while defense spending has fallen by half.

Most Americans don’t realize that official poverty statistics distributed by the Census Bureau don’t count as income. 88% of the transfer payments made to alleviate poverty. As noted by Gramm and Arrington in the Wall Street Journal, “The census doesn’t count refundable tax credits, food stamp debit cards, free medical care through Medicaid or benefits from about 100 other transfer payments as income.”

When these benefits are deemed to be income, 80% of those today who are counted as poor are no longer poor and the bottom three income quintiles in the Census Bureau all have approximately the same spending power.

With the abundance of means-tested transfer payments available, the percentage of working age persons in the bottom quintile who work has fallen from 68% to 38%. For about the same income, 2.4 times as many workers in the second lowest quintile actually work—and on average work 85% more hours than those in the bottom quintile.

Welfare beneficiaries in the main aren’t liars or cheaters. They are making rational decisions in an irrational environment. America is unfortunately a nation deeply in debt, living on anticipated income from the future. We spend money as if we still had it. The kids will figure it out.

The driving motive behind immigration policy is still to permanently alter the political landscape. The ultimate victims may be the migrants themselves, attracted by promises that in the long run can’t be kept.

As Friedman pointed out, we can’t enrich others by impoverishing ourselves. We all just become more poor.

Dr. Thomas Patterson, former Chairman of the Goldwater Institute, is a retired emergency physician. He served as an Arizona State senator for 10 years in the 1990s, and as Majority Leader from 93-96. He is the author of Arizona’s original charter schools bill.