An unprecedented flood of migrants heading for the United States from the Mexican border has created a dangerous crisis that has the Biden administration scrambling to react.
And when CNN is the one reporting it, you know it must be very bad.
US authorities arrested and encountered more than 100,000 migrants on the US-Mexico border over the past four weeks ending on March 3, according to data obtained by CNN, marking the highest levels for the same time frame in five years.
The number of migrants arrested on the southern border has been increasing in recent weeks, causing alarm among officials as they scramble to provide resources for the increase in minors and families who are unlawfully crossing into the US.
The surge in migrants adds to a growing sense of emergency for the Biden administration which has been seeking to unwind the Trump administration’s immigration policies over that time.
Things have gotten so bad that Alejandro Mayorkas, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, is asking DHS staff to volunteer to help deal with what he is calling an “overwhelming” number of migrants at the U.S.-Mexican border. Mayorkas emailed DHS personnel on Monday to plead for help.
“Today, I activated the Volunteer Force to support Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as they face a surge in migration along the Southwest Border,” Mayorkas said in an email to staff, seen by Fox News.
“You have likely seen the news about the overwhelming numbers of migrants seeking access to this country along the Southwest Border,” he said. “President Biden and I are committed to ensuring our Nation has a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system while continuing to balance all of the other critical DHS missions.”
Volunteers will be used in a non-law enforcement capacity, with duties including managing property, preparing meals, doing supply runs, prescription medicine runs, housekeeping, and assisting in control rooms.
This request for volunteers by the DHS secretary is similar to one taken by the Obama administration back in 2019 during the last immigration crisis at the southern border. The current crisis appears to be directly related to the Biden administration’s hasty rollback of President Trump’s immigration policies. The flow of illegal immigrants and refugees slowed to a trickle during the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, things have gotten so bad at the Rio Grande Valley border crossing area that migrants are being flown to El Paso, which is close to 800 miles away.
El Paso will begin receiving planes full of migrants from the Rio Grande Valley for processing, Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, said.
“What we are seeing is families continue to arrive at our nation’s front door and the only difference today than a year ago … is the pandemic, and so we have to make sure that we process people not just humanely, but that we do it safely,” she said, criticizing Gov. Greg Abbott’s refusal of federal funds for migrant Covid-19 testing.
Plans are in place for each migrant to be tested and quarantined if they test positive, Escobar said, noting that she has been in close communication with the Department of Homeland Security in order to assure the safety of the El Paso community and the refugees.
Two flights will arrive in El Paso per day beginning Monday, each carrying 135 migrants, said Ruben Garcia of Annunciation House.
“They are overwhelmingly family units and there is a preponderance of families from the Northern Triangle of Central America: Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala,” Garcia said.
Transportation of migrants via plane and bus for U.S. Customs and Border Protection processing has been carried out in previous years as a way to help overwhelmed border locations that are stretched beyond their capacity.
What Rep. Escobar failed to mention, while criticizing the Texas governor, is the Biden administration allowing illegal immigrants to skip COVID-19 testing altogether.
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Former Texas state Rep. Dan Flynn (R) has reported on his Facebook page that things are very bad at the border and will only get worse.
THE BORDER SITUATION:
Illegal aliens on track to top last 3 years combined!! For all those concerned about illegals flooding into our country you should be concerned!!!
As the Biden administration attempts to make immigration a major priority, including reforming Trump-era policies, all eyes are being drawn to the southern border.
John Modlin, the interim chief patrol agent for the Border Patrol’s Tuscon Sector, suggested that illegal border crossings in his area are on the rise in a recent interview on “Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson.”
“So right now we’re about a hundred percent over where we were this time this last fiscal year. We’ve already surpassed — in the first four months of this fiscal year we’ve already surpassed all of 2018. If the flow continues at the rate it is here, by the end of this fiscal year, we will have surpassed ‘18, ‘19 and ‘20 all combined,” Modlin said, specifically referencing the number of people who have been detained and later released.
Further, according to Attkisson, “in just the last four months, border officials have intercepted and expelled more than 296,000 illegal border crossers.”
What’s most frustrating is that this swarm to the border is the result of proactive policy decisions of the Biden team — sitting far away from the crisis they are creating.
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