A shortage of available Border Patrol agents in Southern California due to an influx of immigrants illegally crossing from Mexico into the United States has forced some entering the United States to hike miles into the country in search of law enforcement.
The Washington Examiner obtained an internal document sent to agents that revealed an incident on Monday in which migrants took it upon themselves to hike 5 miles to a federal police facility in the region to surrender rather than wait for agents to show up at the border, but agents disclosed that these kinds of stragglers are becoming the new normal.
According to the government email, around 6 p.m. local time Monday, seven illegal immigrants walked up to the south gate outside the Border Patrol station in Boulevard, California, and turned themselves in.
“Boulevard agents took custody of the seven illegal aliens and escorted them into the processing area for further processing,” a Border Patrol official wrote in an email to agents in the region.
According to the alert email, Border Patrol agents were not aware of how the seven migrants entered the country, as they were not observed by cameras, sensors, or agents on patrol. However, agents suspected that the migrants walked a distance from near the Jacumba Hot Springs-Boulevard area to the Border Patrol station.
Agents in the San Diego region told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday that a surge in illegal crossings into Southern California in recent months has taken a toll on federal law enforcement officers, whose job it is to patrol the border.
Overwhelmed agents are being pulled to transport migrants back to facilities and book people into custody. Between April 17 and April 23, agents arrested more than 9,500 migrants in the region.
The Boulevard station “has been overrun for a while,” said one Border Patrol agent in San Diego who requested anonymity because agents are not permitted to speak with the media.
A second San Diego agent wrote in a text message that the Boulevard-Jacumba Hot Springs area of the border is “extremely overwhelmed at the moment.”
“Once they cross, they are staying in camps along the border until we have space to arrest them,” the second agent said. “The [illegal aliens] are getting impatient and just walking towards the station. Agents are being told to strongly encourage them to remain in the camps until we have space.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement following publication that human smugglers are increasingly smuggling adult men through the Otay Mesa and Tecate, California, mountains, an area that does not have adequate infrastructure for vehicles to access and transport immigrants to facilities.
Immigrants from 74 countries have been arrested in San Diego just in the past week. A third agent stationed in the area appeared to have “been coached to say to as for POLITICAL ASYLUM.”
“They are all scared of ‘police/the government,’ but can’t give valid, credible reasons,” a fourth agent wrote in a text message. “Seeing EVERYONE getting released with a small amount being set up for [expedited removal]. I’ve seen Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, China, India, Brazil, Colombia, the Northern Triangle, Africa AND some from Vietnam and France.”
Border Patrol has sent in additional employees and transportation to assist, as well as data entry specialists, processing coordinators, contract security officers, medical professionals, and childcare and other service providers.
CBP spokeswoman Assistant Commissioner Erin Waters said agents will continue to shift resources to respond appropriately.
“CBP remains vigilant to continually shifting migration patterns and will continue to adjust operations as necessary,” Waters said in a statement. “This includes surging resources and personnel to impacted sectors to ensure the safe, swift, and orderly processing of individuals to maximize expedited removals.”
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The fourth agent blamed the recent influx on Texas’s enhancing its own border security, prompting Mexican cartels to move to more vulnerable parts of the U.S.-Mexico border, where Democratic-run states were less likely to try to deter illegal immigration.
“Since Texas cracked down the illegal entries, CA is getting the influx of asylum seekers,” the fourth Border Patrol agent said. “The immigration problem in CA will continue to get worse until the state makes changes to their Sanctuary policies.”
