The inability of the government to control the border and its policy of catching and releasing illegals after they present themselves to border agents are two reasons the migrants from Central America won’t stop coming.
And such is the federal government’s weakness that alien smugglers have a new way to get adults across the border: They “recycle” migrant children; i.e., once a kid is across, they return him south across the border for another trip with another “family.”
But that’s not the only sign the border is literally out of control.
Two more are these: Customs and Border Protection has opened new facilities to house the migrants, and a raft capsized in the Rio Grande that required border agents to risk their lives in a rescue attempt.
Recycling Kids
Recycling kids at the border is, apparently, a new tactic for the dangerous, illegal-alien smugglers who exploit the poverty-stricken migrants they bring north to the border.
CBP has identified at least one case among the many “families” presenting themselves at the border or simply surrendering after they cross illegally.
On Wednesday, agents found “what appeared to be a family group that caught the attention of one vigilant [border] officer,” CBP reported. “While in the interview process, the officer noticed several inconsistencies that led him to suspect that the child and the alleged parent were not related.”
But the border agents, along with agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, learned the “child had been ‘recycled’ in at least two prior instances.”
In other words, the child crossed the border with one “family,” left the country, then crossed again with another “family.”
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CBP’s data through March this fiscal year show that border agents apprehended 215,745 people in “families,” 189,584 of them between ports of entry.
That influx has overwhelmed CBP’s facilities and required the agency to release the illegals across the southwest, where they’re causing major problems for municipalities such Yuma, which declared an emergency.
So CBP has opened two facilities in El Paso and Donna, Texas, that will hold 500 illegals each. The soft-sided enclosures are “weatherproof and climate-controlled, and provide areas for eating, sleeping, recreation and personal hygiene.”
And they aren’t cheap either, CBP reported.
The $36.9 million contract, which has a four-month base period with four one-month options, provides for shower trailers, chemical toilets and sinks, laundry trailers, sleeping mats, kitchen equipment, personal property storage boxes, office space, interior and perimeter closed circuit television, lockers, security, power and HVAC services.
More than 3,300 illegals entered the country every day during March.
Irresponsible Illegals Endanger Children
Irresponsible illegals killed a small boy on Wednesday, CBP reported, by trying to sneak into the country across the swift waters of the Rio Grande.
Border agents in Eagle Pass, Texas, collared an illegal who told them he and his small band of border jumpers were crossing the river in a raft when it capsized. The rushing current swept away his wife and two sons, one 10 months and the other six years old, as well as a seven-year-old nephew, CBP reported. A man and girl were missing too.
Shortly after the search began, agents heard cries from the riverbank, where “a woman and a child were in distress struggling to stay afloat. Disregarding his own personal safety, an agent jumped into the river and successfully rescued both individuals later identified as the wife and [six-year-old] child of the man who made the initial report.”
That boy landed in the hospital, CBP reported. Agents found the 10-month old dead.
Agents also found a man and his young son on the American side of the river.
Three are missing.
They Know About Catch-and-Release
As irresponsible as that father and mother were, American elected officials are partly to blame, too, for not erecting a wall and deporting the illegals.
U.S. border officials say illegals know they will be released if border agents catch them, and in fact, want to be caught, particularly if they bring children.
Last week, Aaron Hull, chief of the El Paso border sector, told CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo that “they’re not trying to get away. They know that we’re basically — a period of time, they are going to be held in custody and then they’re going to be released and continue on to all parts of the United States.”
In March, CBP chief of operations, Brian Hastings, observed likewise: “The word of mouth and social media quickly gets back to those in the Northern Triangle countries, that if you bring a child you’ll be successful.”
Photo of Honduran migrants: AP Images
