by Matthew Holloway | Dec 15, 2024 | News
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.
by Daniel Stefanski | Oct 22, 2023 | News
By Daniel Stefanski |
A high-ranking Border Patrol official is sounding the alarm about the number of ‘gotaways’ in the month of October.
This week, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens posted on “X” that “over 18,000 gotaways” have been known to have escaped detection from law enforcement “in the first 16 days of Fiscal Year 2024.”
Chief Owens added that “these are individuals whose identities and purpose we do not know.”
The 2024 fiscal year just began this month of October. Ali Bradley, a National Correspondent for NewsNation, reported that there were “roughly 670,000 ‘gotaways’ for Fiscal Year 2023.”
During President Joe Biden’s three-year (and counting) tenure in the White House, there have been more than 1.7 million estimated ‘gotaways’ at the border, compared to just over 415,000 ‘gotaways’ for former President Donald J. Trump’s four years in office. Border officials and experts have varied theories and opinions on how to estimate groups of ‘gotaways’ – especially since some are known to cover their tracks, which are key to Border Patrol’s approximations in the field. The actual number of ‘gotaways’ could be much higher than the reports.
‘Gotaways’ could pose a serious danger to the homeland of America because, as Chief Owens stated, their identities and purpose for migrating to the United States are unknown. However, these ‘gotaways’ aren’t the only concern for border officials and local law enforcement.
With the rising tensions and violence in the Middle East this month, more attention has been given to the apprehensions of aliens crossing America’s border illegally from ‘special interest countries,’ which, according to a definition from the Department of Homeland Security, is “a non-U.S. person, who, based on an analysis of travel patterns, potentially poses a national security risk to the United States or its interests.” Bradley also reported this week that there were more than 76,000 migrants from ‘special interest countries’ arriving in the United States during the just-completed fiscal year.
Apprehensions of suspected terrorists have also created major fears for law enforcement and elected officials alike, who have seen those numbers drastically increase over the past few years. In the first eleven months of Fiscal Year 2023, officials encountered 151 individuals between ports of entry, who were flagged on the Terrorist Screening Dataset, compared to 98 in FY 2022 and 15 in FY 2021.
The counts of ‘gotaways’ and apprehensions of suspected terrorists and migrants from ‘special interest countries’ aside, the situation at the border has continued to spiral out of control on all fronts. Official numbers from the month of September have not been released as of Friday afternoon, but earlier this month, Fox News reported over 260,000 apprehensions for that month. If those numbers are accurate, which they usually are, that would put the number of apprehensions at the Southwest border for FY 2023 at just under 2,500,000 – an increase over FY 2022, which was a significant jump from FY 2021.
In Chief Owens’ communication about the number of ‘gotaways,’ he also writes, “That is why you need every Border Patrol agent to be in the field and on patrol” – something that the beleaguered and overwhelmed agency hasn’t been able to institute for the better part of the past decade with the exponential rise of illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Daniel Stefanski is a reporter for AZ Free News. You can send him news tips using this link.
