by Daniel Stefanski | Oct 15, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Thousands of migrants from potentially troublesome countries are being apprehended at America’s southern border, while many others could be slipping past law enforcement.
On Tuesday, Fox News journalist Bill Melugin reported that “Internal CBP data provided & confirmed by CBP sources reveals thousands of ‘special interest aliens’ from mostly Middle Eastern countries have been apprehended by Border Patrol while crossing into U.S. illegally over last 2 years.”
Melugin clarified that “a special interest alien is a term used by the U.S. government to refer to people coming from countries that have conditions that favor or harbor terrorism, or pose a potential national security to the U.S.”
From 10/1/2021 to 10/4/2023, the following apprehensions by nation of origin were reported:
- Syria: 538
- Yemen: 139
- Iran: 659
- Iraq: 123
- Afghanistan: 6,386
- Lebanon: 164
- Egypt: 3,153
- Pakistan: 1,613
- Mauritania: 15,594
- Uzbekistan: 13,624
- Turkey: 30,830
The decorated reporter added some concerning context for his report, writing, “Border Patrol sources tell me they have extreme concerns about who is coming into the country because they have little to no way of vetting people from these special interest countries. I’m told unless they have committed a crime previously in the US, or they are on some sort of federal watchlist, there’s no way to know who they are because most of their home countries don’t share data/records with the US so there is nothing to match a name to when BP agents run fingerprints.”
The number of apprehensions from ‘special interest countries’ follows continuing reports of an increase in the number of suspected terrorists who have been encountered this fiscal year, along with the ‘gotaways’ who have escaped detection from law enforcement. Over 150 suspected terrorists have already been nabbed over the past eleven months, which was a stark rise from the previous year (when 98 suspected terrorists were arrested at the southern border). According to CBP data, only 26 total suspected terrorists were apprehended at the southern border from Fiscal Years 17-21.
If the issues of “special interest nations” and “suspected terrorists” apprehensions weren’t bad enough for the country, the number of ‘gotaways’ present a far-greater problem for the United States. More than 1.5 million of these individuals are estimated to have escaped capture by border officials, meaning that they likely are anywhere within the American homeland. Adding to fears from law enforcement, the identities and motives of these aliens are almost entirely unknown.
Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen addressed this danger in his statement about the horrific terrorist attack in Israel over the weekend. Petersen said, “Our own country must remain vigilant, as our wide open border, ignored by Joe Biden and Democrats, remains one of the greatest threats to our national security. This same situation can happen at anytime on our own soil, and we call on the federal government to take immediate action.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Daniel Stefanski | Sep 23, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
Amid an already historic crisis at America’s southern border, the Border Patrol Union is sounding major alarms about the consequences being foisted upon Arizona communities.
On September 14, the Border Patrol Union “X” account shared insights on the catch and release of thousands of illegal aliens in southern Arizona, writing, “DHS personnel in Arizona are now using the term ‘freedom runs’ when instructing BP agents about mass releases of illegal aliens in Tucson. There is almost no manpower left for enforcement duties as agents’ calls for assistance go unanswered and the vast majority are tied up with huge numbers of surrendering border crashers. Agents have been instructed to prioritize the processing of surrendering illegal aliens instead of patrolling the border.”
The account added, “And while all this sanctioned lawlessness ties up resources, the murderous cartel thugs continue to run hugely successful border operations while making billions of dollars smuggling missions of illegal aliens, tons of fentanyl and whatever else they want to send here, courtesy of Joe Biden. The Biden Admin will not be satisfied until every last spark of BP agent morale is extinguished.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released official numbers of southern border apprehensions for August late Friday, showing that over 230,000 migrants had been encountered by agents in the field, putting the total number for the Fiscal Year at more than 2,200,000.
A reporter for Fox News confirmed that the “total migrant encounters for FYTD23 have surpassed FY22 total setting a new record” – with one month remaining in the fiscal year.
Arizona State Representative Quang Nguyen has also taken to his “X” account to share reports of chaos and lawlessness from the southern border. Earlier this week, he relayed a memo from someone at the border, which read, “It’s out of control down here! the Border Patrol agents were told to cease all law enforcement operations, no arrests allowed! they are all processing and transporting aliens now. They are dropping off aliens all over town at shopping centers. The Tucson Sector is avg 12,000 apprehensions a week, and that is just the give ups. There are no agents in the field, so all aliens not giving up (the bad ones) are just freely walking north because there are no agents working in the field! The trail cameras across the state are going off non stop with groups, and no agents are allowed to respond. It’s gone! we lost!”
Representative Nguyen followed up with another post on Friday – this one about what the illegal aliens were leaving behind as they made their way into the United States. He said, “Another text from the border today: ‘Trash left behind by the aliens sneaking into this country… OVER 50+ miles north of the border on Arizona State Trust land. Every wash out here is littered with trash.”
The Border Patrol Union also recently opined on the border cartels’ prowess at the border, saying, “Criminal cartels are making billions dumping illegal aliens at places of their choosing along the border & tying up overwhelmed BP resources with ‘asylum’ claims while moving fentanyl and whatever else they want in other places. They own this border. Biden is their best buddy.”
Fentanyl drug seizures have largely increased by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in Fiscal Year 2023, with over 25,000 pounds apprehended in the past 11 months – approximately the combined numbers for fiscal years 2021 and 2022 of encountered fentanyl. According to a December 22 article in the Washington Post, “federal agents estimate that they are seizing about 5 to 10 percent of the drugs coming from Mexico – if that much.”
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
by Corinne Murdock | May 21, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Another FBI watchlist terrorist was apprehended crossing the border, this time one day after Title 42 ended.
The terrorist came from Pakistan and was apprehended in Ajo, according to information provided by unnamed federal sources to The Washington Examiner. The terrorist was captured within a wave of around 700 illegal immigrants crossing in the area.
There has been a significant increase in terror watchlist apprehensions under Biden. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) disclosed on Wednesday that they’d apprehended 16 terrorists along the border in April alone — more than the total apprehensions from the 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 fiscal years combined.
According to data from December, terror watchlist arrests have increased over sixfold since Biden took office.
So far this fiscal year, there have been over 1.4 million southern border encounters. That’s nearly 134,000 more encounters than from the same time span from the last fiscal year (October 2021 through April 2022).
That brings the total border encounters under President Joe Biden to over 5.6 million.
The average of these encounters totals over 201,000. If that average sustains through the remaining 21 months of Biden’s first term, there may be over 9.8 million illegal immigrant encounters by the end of next year.
Under former President Donald Trump, there were a total of over 2.3 million encounters. There may be four times as many illegal crossings by the end of Biden’s first term.
Despite the continued onslaught of the border crisis, Arizona’s Democratic leaders have been hesitant to fully back proposed remedies.
Congressman Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-03) last week supported the termination of Title 42, but criticized the Biden administration’s lack of action on meaningful immigration reform and infrastructure.
“While the specific needs and requests of each border community varied, one similarity was clear: the administration has not done enough to meet their needs, and these local officials require additional resources, personnel, and funds to ensure our border stays secure and that the processing of asylum seekers is done in a humanitarian way,” stated Gallego.
That same day, Gallego issued another statement dismissing his Republican colleagues’ border proposals as an unserious “sham” perpetuating “cruel” Trump-era policies. The proposals included detainment of unaccompanied children, and restricting asylum outside of legal ports of entry.
Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ-07) complained last August that too many Americans were caught up in the border crisis to notice the religious disrespect of illegal immigrants. Specifically, Grijalva complained that border agents were confiscating illegal Sikh immigrants’ religious items, such as their turbans and bracelets.
“All these festering issues get overwritten because everybody starts screaming about the border and the invasion, and so these go into the background,” said Grijalva. “I don’t think they’re background issues. Border Patrol is the largest law enforcement agency with the least amount of accountability in the country. And that’s the problem.”
Democratic congressional candidate Kirsten Engel supported ending Title 42 last year as part of her prior, failed campaign, and denied the existence of the border crisis.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
by Terri Jo Neff | Mar 15, 2023 | News
By Terri Jo Neff |
A top U.S. Border Patrol union representative says the situation along the southwest border “is spinning out of control everywhere,” with the number of illegal border crossings showing no sign of falloff while agency staffing in the field is at dangerously low rates.
“It’s just overwhelming right now,” USBP agent Art Del Cueto told KFYI’s James T. Harris earlier this week. Del Cueto serves as vice president of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) and president of NBPC Local 2544 in Tucson.
The staffing problem had become so bad that NBPC publicized the situation earlier this week, reporting only two agents were covering a 50-mile section of border. There would typically have been 15 to 20 agents assigned to the area, according to NBPC.
USBP agents have long complained about being dangerously outmanned in the field. Several agents have been injured just in the Cochise County area over the last year, including an agent assigned to USBP Tucson Sector who was hospitalized March 4 after being attacked as she arrested an undocumented migrant.
The migrant was eventually subdued and taken into custody when other agents arrived on scene.
“Our agents face extreme risks in the field, and those who bring them harm will be brought to justice,” USBP Tucson Sector Chief John Modlin said a few days later. Even USBP Chief Raul Ortiz was forced to weigh in on the situation after the agent’s early morning attack made national headlines.
The March 4 attack drew an immediate reaction from Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels, who promised to have the attacker charged in state court if federal prosecutors dropped the ball.
But while USBP command staffers used the attacked agent’s recovery to deflect from the dangerous situation, Del Cueto contends the ongoing practice of pulling field agents from patrol duties to be used instead to process large groups of border crossers in another area demonstrates the lack of sufficient staffing.
Different areas along the nearly 2,000 mile border between the U.S. and Mexico have different challenges, Del Cueto told Harris. For instance, the USBP Tucson Sector is responsible for a mostly remote and rural terrain.
As a result, the area leads the U.S. with a disturbingly high number of “gotaways,” the name given to undocumented border crossers who evade apprehension and do not turn themselves in for immigration processing.
According to Del Cueto, the cartels know of USBP’s staffing challenges. As a result, they realize getting agents to chase down crossers in certain remote areas provides a distraction which allows drugs or higher paying crossers to be moved through other areas.
Staffing issues are forcing agents in the field to wait longer for transport vehicles to arrive, while at other times they must do the processing and transporting themselves. This removes boots on the ground, and “that’s when you start seeing a lot of other groups come through,” he explained.
Del Cueto calls it a “cop out” when people complain USBP and its parent agency Customs and Border Protection are not asking U.S. Department of Homeland Security to spend more money for technology along the border.
“Technology is fantastic, it helps us see where the groups are but at the end you need the boots on the ground to actually make the arrests,” he told Harris.
The cartels are very organized and “are not dumb,” Del Cueto said, adding that they will continue to do things “as long as they kept seeing this Administration not have any true consequences for these people committing crimes.”
“The agents that are still here in Tucson, they have their hands full,” Del Cueto said. “Their backup is far away. They are having a really hard time.”
Terri Jo Neff is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or send her news tips here.
by Corinne Murdock | Jan 27, 2023 | News
By Corinne Murdock |
Terrorists appear to be making the most of the ongoing border crisis, according to the latest illegal immigrant encounter data from Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).
Terror watchlist arrests have increased over sixfold since President Joe Biden took office. CBP apprehensions increased from 15 in the 2021 fiscal year to 98 in the 2022 fiscal year. Since October, there have been 38 arrests of illegal immigrants on the terror watchlist. From 2017 to 2021, four years, CBP only arrested 26 from the terror watchlist.
CBP told Fox News that they estimate approximately 1.2 million “gotaways,” in addition to the over 4.6 million illegal immigrants that have been apprehended at the southern border.
December’s total apprehensions nearly doubled last year’s record for that month; it also marked the highest single month of apprehensions on record.
Nearly 70 percent of the 2022 fiscal year illegal immigrants were single adults (nearly 64 percent in the 2021 fiscal year). Family units accounted for 23 percent of the 2022 fiscal year southwest border encounters.
At this rate, there may be over 9.2 million illegal immigrants by the end of Biden’s first term.
The illegal immigrants aren’t the only increase in border activity since Biden took office. Drug trafficking has also reached historic highs.
The drug traffickers have gotten creative with their outsized shipments, disguising their cargo as commercial goods like rocks and cotton candy.
Harder drugs are taking precedence over others, as reflected by CBP drug seizure statistics. This includes fentanyl, meth, and cocaine. Marijuana dropped off in seizures around 2021.
Vice President Kamala Harris visited Arizona last Thursday. Although Biden designated Harris as the “Border Czar,” Harris did not visit the border while in Arizona. Rather, the vice president came to the state to discuss “clean” energy.
When asked why she and Biden weren’t taking more steps to secure the border, Harris said that Congress needed to act. Harris also indicated that it wasn’t important for her to visit the border during last Thursday’s trip, since she went in June 2021.
“The reality is, the people in Washington, D.C., the people who walk around the halls of Congress need to do something,” said Harris.
A week prior to her visit, Harris told reporters that the border was one of her highest priorities.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.
