Posted on 11/28/2015 2:44:40 PM PST by HomerBohn
Apprehensions of migrant families have increased 150 percent over the same period in 2014
The number of unaccompanied children caught by Border Patrol has more than doubled
The new flows come after a year of declines in illegal crossings across the southwest border
MISSION, Texas -- The numbers of migrants crossing the Rio Grande illegally have risen sharply in recent weeks, replaying scenes from the influx of Central American children and families in South Texas last year.
Once again, smugglers are bringing hundreds of women and children each day to the Mexican banks of the river and sending them across in rafts. In a season when illegal crossings normally go down, "The numbers have started going the other way," said Raul L. Ortiz, acting chief of the Border Patrol for the Rio Grande Valley. Since Oct. 1, official figures show, Border Patrol apprehensions of migrant families in this region have increased 150 percent over the same period last year, while the number of unaccompanied children caught by agents has more than doubled.
The new flows here are smaller than the surge in the summer of 2014 but come after a year of declines in illegal crossings across the southwest border. The increases come as Americans' concerns about border security are heightened after the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris raised fears that terrorists would try to sneak into the United States. And they are complicating the Obama administration's efforts to reassure the country that the border is under control.
Border officials said they were monitoring the growing stream, but they have not signaled a higher security risk or activated any special response.
A mix of factors seems to be driving the new flow. Many of the migrants are women and children fleeing vicious gangs and endemic sexual violence in Central America who are hoping for asylum in the United States. Rather than hiding from Border Patrol agents they often try to find them, to ask for protection and start the long legal battle to remain here.
In October, the U.N. High Commissioner for refugees, António Guterres, said uncontrolled violence by the gangs had become "pervasive" in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. He issued an "early warning" of "a looming refugee crisis."
A report by his agency found that women in particular "face a startling degree of violence that has a devastating impact on their daily lives." According to U.N. figures, this year El Salvador moved into first place in the world for the rate of murders of women and Guatemala ranked third, while Honduras had the highest murder rate overall.
Many of the migrants are women and children fleeing gangs and sexual violence in Central America. They often seek out Border Patrol agents hoping for asylum in the United States.
Border officials argue that reductions in detention of migrant women with children could also have had an impact. Responding to federal court decisions, the Department of Homeland Security ended a policy of detaining most of the women to convey a dissuasive message to Central America. The authorities have been releasing women and children in three weeks or less, sending them to pursue claims for asylum in immigration courts around the country.
"I'm sure some information has filtered down to those countries that maybe they have some opportunities with respect to our inability to detain families and kids," Ortiz said in an interview at his headquarters near here. "Family members that are already here are saying, now is potentially a pretty good time to come to the U.S."
In addition, there are signs that enforcement by the Mexican authorities along their border with Guatemala, which was stepped up aggressively in summer 2014 with assistance from the United States, is becoming less effective.
"The smuggling organizations are starting to figure out where their checkpoints are, how they're deploying their officers, so they're making some adjustments to get around them," Ortiz said.
(Watch video at link)
have also been smaller increases in migrants caught as they were trying to get away. On Saturday, agents at a checkpoint north of here in Falfurrias, Texas, found 11 migrants stashed in a load of vegetables in a refrigerator truck. Last week, Border Patrol agents apprehended five Pakistanis and one Afghan, along with two smugglers, near Sonoita, Arizona. Background checks showed those men had no history of suspicious activity, border officials said.
Until recently, illegal crossings in this Border Patrol sector, the nation's busiest, had dropped sharply. About 147,000 migrants were caught in the year that ended Sept. 30, a decline of 43 percent from the 265,000 caught the previous year. The numbers went down across the southwest border, mainly because of the lowest crossings by Mexicans since the 1970s.
But the flow in South Texas of migrants from Central America spiked in July and just kept rising. Across the border, apprehensions of migrants in families - mostly women and their children - soared in October to 6,029, an increase of 179 percent over October 2014.
The smuggling organizations are starting to figure out where their checkpoints are, how they're deploying their officers, so they're making some adjustments to get around them. Raul L. Ortiz, acting chief of Border Patrol for Rio Grande Valley
Border Patrol agents, scouting dirt roads along the Rio Grande that are sinking in mud after fall rains, are recalling the surge of 2014. Smuggler guides, as they did then, bring migrants down to places where the dark river runs slowly and push them across on rafts.
"They crossed a group right there in front of me," said one agent on the riverbank, pointing to a high point where he had been standing watch on a recent day. The smugglers were not deterred by his green uniform and badge, he said.
The migrants "jump out of the coyote's truck and head down to the water," the agent said, using the Mexican term for a smuggler. "They're moving, and boom, they're in." They scramble up through the thorny brush on the U.S. side. "They come straight to you," said the agent, who was not authorized to speak by name.
Women and children who turn themselves in to the Border Patrol and ask for asylum pass preliminary security checks and are turned over, generally within two days, to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Most are sent to two detention centers in South Texas, where they pass further checks and interviews to determine if they have credible claims to request asylum.
Last week, three Syrian families with children and two men, all seeking asylum, presented themselves in two separate episodes to the authorities at the border station in Laredo, Texas. The women and children were sent to the family detention centers, officials said, and the men were sent to another immigration detention center near the border.
Border officials said they have seen no increase in Syrians at the border. But some lawmakers are concerned that if the flow from Central America continues to rise, migrants from Syria and Iraq could be attracted to join it.
If people start seeing they can come to the United States this way," said Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Democrat whose district includes a stretch of the Texas border, "the word will get back that you don't have to wait two years in a refugee camp."
72 Democrat Congressmen/women recently penned a letter to Dear Leader Obama, saying that they all want EVEN MORE illegals let into the country than have been currently planned for.
Have they checked in with their constituents?
The Kenyan is trying to run up the number of commie lib, ‘RAT voters prior to next November. If Cruz or Trump take control before the Obama regime can destroy all of the evidence, Obama might find his goatsmellin’ ass in jail.
For the last 40 years, the Party of Government (’Rats and RINOs) has done all it can to replace American voters with Mexicans.
It wants to govern ignorant masses — without any accountability.
Wasn’t The Ministry of Propaganda just running stories about how the flow was way down?
They woudn’t lie to us would they? /s
For a year or two the government has been telling us that the flow across the Rio Grande has been in the other direction and that the illegals are leaving the US.
Who would have possibly thought it was a lie from our own government?
?s
I remember that too. They can’t keep their story straight.
If Trump is elected (even nominated), they’ll be running back home.
Who wants to build a wall, besides Trump?
Why don’t they put a few piranha in there?
The way it is now, foreign nationals intentionally break our immigration laws figuring that if they can hide long enough, eventually Uncle Sam will not only forgive but reward with citizenship, with all the rewards that come with that for breaking our laws.
The funniest thing the Open Border pimps say, I think, is, “They will have to do do (steps 1-10.) before we consider a `path to citizenship’.” ..... They won’t. Why should they?
Over 90% of the central American `children’ (many in their 30s) had follow-up court hearings after being let loose on the rest of us: they `shined them on’/F’dTA of course.
Go Trump!
Oh,how silly, this cannot possibly be true...remember the Pew Research Center said the numbers are so low that the number of Hispanic immigrants LEAVING is greater than those entering.
This issue just burns me up. We have had congressmen and presidents that are sworn to uphold all laws and they have let this border situation get out of control. They all need to be impeached, recalled and booted out of office, thrown in jail for allowing our laws to be broken for years.
“migrants”
The WHOLE country of Mexico pisses me off.....I could go on a rant a mile long....These SOB’s come here and still hold allegiance to that pissy smelling turd hole.....Crude crappy country that offers the world nothing but rags and tacos..I have friends from long ago Mexicans families...but they are Americanized, productive and serve the military well...these filthy shits do nothing but funk up America....Call me racist...go ahead! Name one thing Mexico did in WWII...I need educating.
“Mexico had no indigenous aircraft industry; therefore any planes capable of stopping an offshore attack would have to come from the United States.”
Well i learned that...so Mexico can’t invent an airplane....Ok....let’s go on...They just served a few warm bodies with a rifle they didn’t invent? I am waiting for the BIG invention and contribution......I don’t mean American’s of Mexican decent...they have served honorable....I mean MEXICO...the country, the government...the whole enchilada!
There is no such thing as a quote, Hispanic race, unquote.It is a strawman invented by so called liberals. That term has been applied to those from individual South American countries some of which have governments hostile to US and actually claim parts of this country as theirs, and others which are friendly. They are composed of various races as we are, with the difference being their primary common language is Spanish.
This destructive utopian Mexican open border approach of even considering granting those who enter the US illegally through it. Entitlement to all benefits beyond those of what we give to our citizens destroys the value of an American citizenship. It is being promoted by the name callers mostly in socialist circles such as the democrat party as well some republicans who use such terms as nativist promoting racial division .
What we should be doing is taking a very very hard look at our relationship with Mexico along with trade and its myriad misstreatment of Americans as 3rd class citizens and its claims on American territory . There is no doubt there are hundreds of complaints, if not thousands, from American citizens who have retired there. Along with travelers running to American consulates about conditions that are going unreported because of this Mexican policy
While we are expected to allow Mexican citizens enter to our country illegally and offer them preferential treatment over our citizens allowing them to purchase land in their own name and and even voting privledges which they cannot do if they choose to retire in Mexico.
The leading Republican candidates and that includes Trump may mention some of this but thus far have refused to identify the problem let alone properly redress it by suggesting or implementing reciprocity.
Since the Mexicans are permitting foreigners transit through their country for illegal entry into ours. Any person entering illegally through that open border whether a bona fide citizen of Mexico or not should be treated as if they were a Mexican and tossed back to Mexico and let Mexico deal with them. Illegals should be offered the same rights as Americans. No property ownership and voting rights let alone access to the multitude of costly programs comm9ng out of US taxpayer pockets.
If reciprocity were implemented there would be no need to worry about who will pay for walls or border fences.Illegals would leave on their own accord . And the value of being an American citizen restored.
Halting ALL immigration and closing our Mexican embassy is called for here.
We are being inundated with unwashed, filthy outcasts from Mexico and unwanted dangerous Muslims from the middle east.
America needs a cleansing of all Muslims and illegals and a thorough cleansing of Washington, D.C.
Mexico played a very important role in WW II. It served as a haven for America's enemies. Even today they continue that proud tradition.
Not to worry. The new Speaker will insure that Barry’s legacy is intact.
That legacy is so ugly that people will be scratching their heads hundreds of years from now in wonderment over how ‘citizens’ could be so feckless as to elect and re-elect and obvious enemy as their president.
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