US-MEXICO BORDER- AZ Central is reporting that at least two border state governors, Greg Abbott (R-TX) and Doug Ducey (R-AZ) have sent a letter to governors of the other 48 states asking for additional law enforcement staff and resources to supplement their own states’ law enforcement efforts at the border.
A copy of the letter was published late last week, intended to coincide with a border summit that Gov. Abbott kicked off in Del Rio, Texas.
The # of illegal border crossings this fiscal year is already the most since 2006. This is a crisis, our law enforcement professionals need help.
In response, @GovAbbott and I sent a letter to all US governors requesting law enforcement support along the border in our states. 1/ pic.twitter.com/U0dywS6XBz
— Doug Ducey (@dougducey) June 10, 2021
Both governors claim that the Biden administration “has proven unwilling or unable” to secure the U.S.-Mexico border, and in doing so cited a 20-year high in encounters with illegals last month as evidence of what they referred to as an “open-border disaster.”
“Of course, border states like Texas and Arizona are ‘ground zero’ for this crisis and bear a disproportionate share of these burdens,” the letter read.
Last Wednesday, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported they had encountered 180,034 illegals last month, with over 62% being turned away under pandemic health restrictions. That number does not include those who entered the country undetected.
In the letter, Abbott and Ducey explained efforts undertaken to boost border security in their states, including the deployment of the National Guard, as well as state resources, such as the Border Strike Force in Arizona.
However both governors argued there is much more to be done.
Both governors have declared emergencies and activated their respective National Guard units.
They have also invoked an Emergency Management Assistance Compact under those respective declarations whereby the request additional law enforcement assistance from other states in order to deal with the influx and “the accompanying threats to private property and to the safety of our citizens,” the letter read.
The governors are requesting law enforcement manpower, as well as resources such as drones and helicopters to help patrol the border.
“Crucially, this will include the power to arrest migrants who illegally cross the border into our territory” in violation of state and federal crimes the letter continued.
The outlet noted that there were currently no logistics details of the request available, including questions about costs, responsibilities and command and control of those units deployed.
“Our efforts will only be effective if we work together to secure the border, make criminal arrests, protect landowners, rid our communities of dangerous drugs, and provide Texans with the support they need and deserve,” Abbott said in a written statement last week.
A Ducey spokesperson, CJ Karamargin noted there was no question as to where Ducey and Abbott stood when it comes to border security and said the end goal is to restore safety to border communities.
“All across Arizona, people shouldn’t feel threatened by cartels, and drug smugglers, and human traffickers,” he said.
Of course, any request for other states to sent additional help to Texas and Arizona is likely to meet pushback from the open borders crowd in the fringe extreme of the Democratic Party, as well as far-left activist groups.
AZ Central said they reached out to both the White House, as well as the Department of Homeland Security for comment, however no response was received.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ) slammed the letter and the governor’s request for additional assets.
She claimed it was:
“a continuation of the same inhumane border policies we saw over the last 4 years, which not only proved ineffective, but were antithetical to our values as Americans,” she said in a statement.
“We must call it what it is—a political stunt that has no intention of solving the real issues that we’re seeing at our southern border,” she continued.
The governor’s request was also panned by Vicki Gaubeca, the executive director for the Southern Border Communities Coalition, which represents over 60 community and advocacy organizations along the border.
She claims that Ducey and Abbott were creating hysteria and feeding into harmful narratives about migrants and border communities.
“When I see them describe, kind of paint a broad stroke on all of these individuals as being criminals, which is a typical fear tactic, it rustles people up and scares them,” she said.
“When the reality is the vast majority of people coming to the border are only trying to seek safety from criminal elements.”
The fact is however that people crossing the border illegally are, in fact criminals.
Yet another leftist group, Puente Arizona released a statement in which they denounced Ducey for the proposal.
“Ducey’s statement is unequivocally racist [of course], fear-mongering, and dangerous. Puente denounces any further militarization of the border, which we know only results in the increased criminalization of migrants including children. We demand no more kids in cages, no more criminalization of migration!”
With that said, Ducey and Abbott’s plan did draw some support from elected leaders in southern Arizona.
Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels noted that current statistics, including in his border county, showed that “we’re in an epidemic,” he said.
He does have some questions about specifics of the plan, however said he was glad to hear that Ducey and Abbott spoke to the need for a “manageable, secure border” and was awaiting forthcoming details about the plan.
Not all Democrats are critical of trying to secure the border, however. Last month, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), who has emerged as a staunch critic of Biden’s border policies called for relief for border towns who are suffering amidst the record spike in illegal entry to the United States.
Cuellar also spoke about the darker side of the crisis, a side that is often ignored by the pro-open border leftists.
“In Laredo, you have people that are trying to evade, single male adults, you got stash houses, you got people that are being crammed in the 18-wheelers,” he told USA TODAY.
“So a lot of times, people only see the one that pulls at our heart, and that is the unaccompanied kids and the family. But what about the darker side? There is a darker side.”
That is the side Ducey, and Abbott are trying to get under control.
In March, we reported on the fact that Mexico…not the United States…was sending troops to help secure the border. For more on that, we invite you to:
DIG DEEPER
MEXICO – According to a recent report from Breitbart News, Mexican officials were said to have deployed 8,715 soldiers to help stifle the flow of migrants crossing into the United States.
https://twitter.com/BuzzPatterson/status/1374384014480400388
Secretary of Defense Luis Cresencio Sandoval recently announced during a press conference, that the Mexican military had established 347 immigration checkpoints in the country along three main routes – specifically the Gulf, Center, and Pacific.
According to Sandoval, the Mexican military forces have already “rescued” nearly 13,000 migrants in March, so far. However, it’s unclear whether these migrants were willing travelers that were simply apprehended, or if they were being held captive by human smugglers.
This deployment of troops comes around the same time that President Joe Biden put into motion a U.S. diplomatic delegation to visit Mexico City and discuss the issues impacting the U.S.-Mexico border with officials.
https://twitter.com/1RealUSCitizen/status/1374158508770291714
Mexico has been rather diligent with addressing the surge in migrants towards their own country, too.
Back in January, Mexican officials deployed roughly 800 Mexican National Guard members to the country’s border with Guatemala, in an effort to combat the likes of migrant caravans.
The efforts that were made in January obviously serve as a de facto benefit to the United States in curbing illegal immigration.
To the credit of Mexican officials, their continued efforts are helping to not make the issues impacting the U.S.-Mexico border worse than what they already are.
For instance, in February, Mexican authorities initiated a raid of the Palacio Hotel in downtown Monterrey where they found a group of 135 Central Americans that were trying to make their way to Texas.
Just one week prior to that effort, Mexican authorities in the state of Veracruz managed to thwart human smugglers that were trying to traffic over 200 Central Americans across the border to Texas.
Meanwhile, back in the United States, Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities are showing some of the lowest numbers of detainees.
We at Law Enforcement Today recently shared a report regarding this phenomenon regarding ICE facilities. Here’s that previous report.
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WASHINGTON, DC – According to reports, the total number of illegal immigrants being held inside of Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities in February of 2021 has hit a “record low” according to research conducted by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University.
Joe Biden’s America Last agenda is doing exactly what it was intended to do. https://t.co/9oGuUhEK8G
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) March 18, 2021
According to a study conducted by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC for short, showed that while detention facility bookings have increased with regard to Border Patrol, ICE bookings into detention facilities has dwindled considerably.
The study notes the following initially:
“As of the end of President Biden’s first full month in office, the number of individuals arrested by ICE and booked into civil immigrant detention fell sharply from 5,119 ICE book-in arrests during January 2021 to just 1,970 during February 2021. According to the latest ICE figures, this was a drop of 62 percent just in a single month.”
After noting that there was a considerable drop in ICE-enacted bookings, the study showcased the increase in bookings enacted by Border Patrol:
“In contrast, those turned over to ICE for detention from arrests by the Border Patrol and at ports of entry climbed, from 3,024 to 4,696 in February after the Biden administration began allowing a limited numbers of families and adults, particularly those seeking asylum, to enter the United States.”
These numbers in question don’t showcase any data regarding unaccompanied minors taken into custody at the border, namely because unaccompanied minors are turned over to the Department of Health and Human Services, as opposed to being held at ICE detention centers.
When reviewing the data regarding detainees within ICE facilities by the end of February, the report noted that there were only 13,529 people actively in ICE detention.
It should be noted that ICE detention facilities have collectively booked a lower number of detainees since the end of March, 2020 – and that can be deduced for logical reasons due to the pandemic, which the study also pointed out:
“Those remaining in ICE custody from ICE interior arrests changed only modestly between October 2018 when they were 21,368 and March 2020 when they were 19,174, before falling more sharply after the pandemic hit.”
But the more interesting data point that makes February, 2021 so unique is that detainees actually booked by ICE fell below the number of detainees booked by Border Patrol when compared to recent months.
From April, 2020 up until January of 2021, detainees arrested by ICE and booked into facilities ranged between 5,103-6,805 per month. Looking at the same period, detainees arrested by Border Patrol and booked into facilities ranged between 1,585-3,024.
But in February, 2021, detainees arrested by ICE were only at 1,970; and Border Patrol arrests booked into detention centers were at 4,696 (the first time Border Patrol bookings overcame ICE bookings since December, 2019).
While any number of things could be impacting ICE activities and arrest numbers, it is a rather bizarre drop in bookings by the agency.
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