Border Patrol Nabs More Illegal Aliens on Terror Watchlist in October than in Three Years Under Trump

Border Patrol agents arrested more illegal aliens on the terrorist watchlist in October than over the course of three years under the Trump administration, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data updated Tuesday.

Border Patrol recorded 13 encounters of individuals on the terror watchlist at both the northern and southern borders of the U.S. in October alone, according to the data. Encounters of illegal immigrants on the terror watchlist between fiscal years 2018 and 2020, during most of Donald Trump’s presidency, added up to 12.

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Near-Record Number of Illegal Immigrants Are Crossing the Northern Border

Border Patrol encounters of migrants crossing the northern border illegally hit a two-decade high in October, according to recently updated Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.

There were 1,521 such encounters recorded in October alone, according to the data. The last time monthly encounters surpassed that number was in August 2001, when Border Patrol recorded 2,016, according to federal data.

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Nearly 4 Million Illegal Border Crossers in Fiscal 2023

There were over 3.2 million people who entered the U.S. illegally nationwide in fiscal 2023, the most in recorded U.S. history, according to the latest data published by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Combined with gotaway data only reported by Border Patrol agents at the southwest border, illegal border crossers totaled at least 3,970,318 in fiscal 2023.

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Border Authorities Are Counting Palestinian Migrants as Other Nationalities

Federal border authorities apprehending Palestinian migrants crossing into the U.S. illegally are counting them as other nationalities, according to the former chief of Border Patrol and a current agency official who is familiar with the process.

In addition to the current and former agency officials that confirmed Palestinians aren’t classified as such when they’re apprehended and processed at the border, the DCNF obtained screenshots of Border Patrol’s internal system showing that Palestine is not a category and that searching for it results in “no matches.” Federal intelligence officials have warned that Palestinian terrorists could be crossing the southern border and to be on the lookout for them, according to an internal Customs and Border Protection (CBP) memo first obtained by the DCNF.

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More than 255,000 Apprehended at Southern Border in September

At least 255,212 foreign nationals were apprehended or reported evading capture after illegally entering the southwest border in September, according to preliminary Border Patrol data obtained by The Center Square.

This includes at least 222,009 apprehensions and 33,203 gotaways. “Gotaways” is the official U.S. Customs and Border Protection term that refers to the number of people known and reported to illegally enter the U.S. between ports of entry who intentionally try to evade capture and don’t return to Mexico.

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Minnesota Police Find 11 Illegal Immigrants in House Where Girl Reported Sexual Assault

Police in Bemidji, Minnesota, found 11 illegal immigrants in a local house after a minor was allegedly sexually assaulted, the Bemidji Police Department said in a recent Facebook post.

The Sanford Bemidji Medical Center’s Emergency Department alerted the Bemidji Police Department to the situation involving a girl that stated she’d been sexually assaulted, according to the Facebook post. Authorities arrested Oscar Ernesto Luna, 22, who is now charged with first degree criminal sexual conduct, and handed the 11 illegal immigrants to Border Patrol.

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The Border Crisis Is Crippling U.S. Companies’ Supply Chains

Trade across the U.S.-Mexico border is being severely hampered due to an ongoing migrant crisis that is threatening businesses’ supply chains, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The southern border is facing a massive influx of migrants crossing into the U.S. illegally, with the U.S. Border Patrol reporting that a record high of 22,000 illegal migrants were being held in custody on Tuesday as opposed to just 7,696 on June 8. Trade that U.S. companies rely on for their supply chains is being hampered due to delays at points of entry that are being shut down by Border Patro to address the surge, according to the WSJ.

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Number of Illegal Migrants in Border Patrol Custody Surges to New High

The number of illegal migrants in Border Patrol custody nationwide surpassed 22,000 on Tuesday evening, according to internal Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data obtained exclusively by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Border Patrol across all sectors had almost 17,000 illegal migrants in custody on the evening of August 10 compared to 7,696 on the evening of June 8, according to internal CBP data previously obtained by the DCNF. Additionally, there were 8,923 migrant encounters by CBP on Monday and 7,730 illegal migrants released into the country, according to the new data.

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Border Patrol Email: Plan to Mass Release Illegal Border Crossers from Crowded Facilities

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody on Tuesday published an internal Border Patrol email her office obtained that provides guidelines to release foreign nationals being held at Customs and Border Patrol processing centers because they are at near full capacity, at full capacity or are already over capacity.

President Joe Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “have become so brazen that they are now implementing mass-release quotas for immigrants surging into our country,” Moody said. “As a federal judge already recognized, these releases are unlawful, yet the Biden administration is ordering Border Patrol to release even more immigrants into the interior.” Moody is referring to a lawsuit Florida brought against the administration and won.

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Miami Border Patrol Agents Apprehend Foreign Nationals with Criminal Records

Border Patrol agents in the Miami Sector continue to apprehend foreign nationals with criminal records who are already inland, living in Florida towns.

Miami Sector Chief Border Patrol Agent Walter Slosar said that agents working with law enforcement officers in Fort Pierce apprehended a Honduran national illegally in the U.S. The Honduran was in possession of firearms, miscellaneous drugs and U.S. currency. He was apprehended during a traffic stop.

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Border Patrol Sees Massive Surge in Illegal Migrants on Terror Watchlist

Border Patrol has arrested 143 illegal migrants on the terror watchlist in fiscal year 2023, surpassing 2022’s total by roughly 25%, according to federal data updated Tuesday.

In all of fiscal year 2022, Border Patrol nabbed 98 individuals whose names appeared on the terror watchlist, according to the data. The data include both southern and northern border apprehensions of individuals on the terror watchlist.

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Border Patrol Agents: June Southwest Border Apprehension Data Is a ‘Shell Game’

Apprehension and gotaway data for June, which was significantly lower than previous months, is deceptive, a Customs and Border Patrol agent as well as the former acting CBP Chief and former Border Patrol Chief Mark Morgan told The Center Square. 

They spoke in response to lower numbers reported for the month by Border Patrol agents that total over 135,000, which is significantly lower than previous months even though large numbers of people are still coming through.

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DeSantis Lays Out Border Security Plan at Event in Eagle Pass, Texas

In a campaign stop in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Monday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis presented his border security plan as part of his platform to win the Republican nomination for president.

The plan includes reinstating several policies implemented by the Trump administration, including ending catch and release, reinstating the Remain in Mexico policy, among others. His plan also includes using the U.S. military to work with Border Patrol agents “on day one, and they’ll continue to help until the [border] wall is finished,” according to a campaign document obtained by The Center Square.

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Tennessee U.S. Rep Mark Green Says He Has Evidence That Some Chinese Migrants Are Tied To CCP, PLA

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green possesses evidence that some Chinese migrants that crossed the southern border illegally and were released into the U.S. under the Biden administration are connected to the Chinese Communist Party and China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), he told the Daily Caller News Foundation during a press conference Wednesday.

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U.S. Sees 1,000 Percent Surge in Migrants from Afghanistan, China

Border Patrol has seen 1,000% increases in migrants coming from Afghanistan, China and other countries far from U.S. borders between fiscal year 2022 to fiscal year 2023.

The surges include migrants from Algeria, Djibouti, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Paraguay and Vietnam, outgoing Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz wrote on Twitter Friday. It has been challenging to deport such migrants, Ortiz said.

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Biden Admin Taps New Border Chief

The Biden administration has tapped Jason Owens to lead Border Patrol next, according to an internal agency email sent by Acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Troy Miller obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Owens has served in the agency for 25 years and is currently chief of the Border Patrol’s Del Rio sector in Texas. Outgoing Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz announced his retirement on May 30 after overseeing the agency during a time of record migration at the southern border, where CBP recorded more than 2.3 million migrant encounters in fiscal year 2022 alone.

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Florida AG Moody Defeats Biden Administration in Court, Again

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody won another round against the Biden administration in federal court, this time in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.

On Monday, the court ruled to keep in place an injunction against the Department of Homeland Security’s parole program. The injunction was issued by a federal district judge in Florida last month. DHS appealed the judge’s ruling and lost.

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2023 Fiscal Year Illegal Border Crossings Surpass 2019-22 Totals in Northern Sector

Border Patrol agents working in the busiest sector along the northern border are apprehending record numbers of foreign nationals attempting to enter the U.S. illegally from Canada.

In the first seven months of fiscal 2023, Border Patrol agents apprehended and encountered more illegal foreign nationals crossing a 295-mile stretch of the Canada-U.S. border than the previous four fiscal years (FYs 2019-2022) combined, Swanton Sector Border Patrol Chief Robert Garcia said.

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‘These Numbers Are Staggering:’ Chinese Migrants Continue to Surge Across Southern Border

The influx of Chinese migrants crossing the southern border continued through April, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.

Border Patrol encountered 3,182 migrants from China at the U.S.-Mexico border in April alone, according to CBP data. Chinese migrants often pay hefty smuggling fees to reach the U.S., where they have been found with large sums of U.S. currency, according to Border Patrol agents who recently spoke with the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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U.S. Officials Admit Losing ‘Operational Control’ of Border, Drug Cartels Poised to Seize it

With just two words, the top uniformed officer in the Customs and Border Protection agency sent shockwaves across official Washington two months ago when asked whether his agency has operational control of the southern U.S. border.

“No, sir,” Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz told Congress in a shocking admission that exposed just how badly border security has deteriorated under President Joe Biden.

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Border Patrol Migrant Processing Centers Filled After Trump-Era Policy’s End

Border Patrol migrant processing centers are filled with more than 25,000 migrants hours after the expiration of Title 42, the Trump-era expulsion policy, according to internal agency data obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Title 42, which was responsible for the expulsion of more than 2 million migrants, ended at 11:59 p.m. Thursday. The early Friday morning data show that several sectors of the southern border, including Arizona’s Yuma and Tucson sectors, are 219% and 269% over capacity, respectively.

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Border Patrol to Release Foreign Nationals En Masse into Communities as Title 42 Ends

Instead of U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehending, detaining and deporting people who’ve illegally entered the U.S., they will be implementing a plan decided on last year to release them en masse into local border communities.

The public health authority Title 42, which has given Border Patrol agents an additional tool to deport certain individuals, was slated to end last May. On May 20, 2022, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana enjoined the repeal of Title 42 in a case filed by 24 states, issuing a nationwide injunction.

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Illegal Entries at U.S. Northern Border Continue to Surge

Temporary processing facilities in Donna, Texas, safely processes family units and unaccompanied alien children (UACs) encountered and in the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol March 17, 2021. The facility will bolster processing capacity in the RGV while the permanent Centralized Processing Center in McAllen is renovated. CBP Photo by Jaime Rodriguez Sr.

Federal agents patrolling the U.S.-Canadian border in Vermont, upstate New York and New Hampshire continue to apprehend record numbers of foreign nationals illegally entering the U.S. from Canada.

Last month, Border Patrol agents reported 816 apprehensions and 371 gotaways, according to preliminary data obtained by a Border Patrol agent on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. The data only represents Border Patrol data and excludes Office of Field Operations data, meaning the numbers are likely higher. Agents also reported 19 people they identified who illegally entered the U.S. but turned back to Canada.

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Border Patrol Busts Stash House Full of Illegal Migrants in Northern Border State

Border Patrol agents in Maine busted a stash house full of illegal migrants Tuesday, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) statement.

Authorities found 17 illegal migrants from Nicaragua and Guatemala in a house located in Lisbon, Maine, according to CBP. The incident comes amid a surge in illegal migration at the northern border, where Border Patrol apprehended more than 2,800 illegal migrants between October 2022 and February 2023, according to agency data.

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Biden’s State of Union Message Gets Counter-Programmed by His Own Administration and Policies

It’s a time-honored tradition in Washington for a president to deliver his State of the Union address and frame his successes and policy vision before allowing the opposition party to offer its rebuttal. But Joe Biden upended the tradition, somehow delivering the counter-programming to his own message Tuesday with a series of negative headlines generated by his own administration. In the hours before Biden spoke from the U.S. Capitol, his administration announced the nation had suffered its worst trade deficit in history last year at nearly $1 trillion. Shortly thereafter, his Fed chairman warned inflation was not abating as expected and would be sticking around longer because of a tight labor market that produced an unexpected 500,000-plus jobs in January.

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Border Patrol Presentation Reveals Plan to Release Illegal Crossers En Masse into U.S. Communities

Roughly six weeks before testifying Tuesday before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, Chief Border Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez held a meeting with local law enforcement in Weslaco, Texas, describing the administration’s plan to release en masse illegal foreign nationals into the U.S. when Title 42 ended. 

The Biden administration sought to end Title 42, the public health authority first implemented under the Trump administration during the height of the pandemic, but Texas sued and in December a federal court prevented the administration from ending it.

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Another Record: Nearly 314,000 Apprehensions, Gotaways at Southern Border in December

December was another record month for Border Patrol agents tasked with apprehending foreign nationals illegally entering the U.S. through the southwest border.

Agents apprehended at least 226,050 people and reported at least 87,631 who evaded capture by law enforcement last month. Combined, they total at least 313,681 – an increase from November’s record breaking number of 306,069.

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Record Number of Apprehensions, Gotaways in Fiscal 2022 Surpass 3.3 Million

A record number of illegal foreign nationals were apprehended or recorded evading capture by Border Patrol agents in fiscal year 2022, surpassing 3 million, according to data obtained by The Center Square.

In October, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 2.7 million encounters and apprehensions of foreign nationals illegally entering the U.S., which included data from Border Patrol and Office of Field Operations and excluded known and reported gotaways.

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State of Emergency in El Paso as Border Patrol Reports Record Illegal Entries

Blanketed babies in car seats on the sidewalk. People laying in blankets and sleeping bags on the ground. Hundreds pouring into downtown El Paso at a time. In November alone, more than 53,500 illegal foreign nationals were apprehended, and an additional 24,000 who evaded capture by law enforcement  in the Customs and Border Patrol sector that includes El Paso.

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Biden Says He Has More Important Things to Do than Visit the U.S.-Mexico Border

President Joe Biden visited Arizona on Tuesday but did not visit the U.S.-Mexico border. He visited the state to tour a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. facility in the process of being constructed in Phoenix, Arizona. 

When a reporter asked Biden why he would come to Arizona and not visit the border, the president said visiting the border is not a priority. 

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Border Patrol Sees Surge in Suicides as Morale Plummets

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has seen four personnel die by suicide in the last two weeks, National Border Patrol Council Vice President At-Large Sergio Moreno, who is part of the agency’s National Suicide Prevention Workforce, revealed to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Three Border Patrol agents died by suicide in the two week period, the first two in the Rio Grande Valley sector, the third in the El Paso sector on Sunday and the fourth, a CBP officer, also on Sunday, Moreno told the DCNF. The surge in suicides comes as CBP personnel experience low morale amid record illegal migration ushered in by several Biden administration border and immigration policies.

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Border Patrol Lifts Vaccine Mandate for Personnel

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has ended the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for its personnel, according to a memorandum exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

“CBP is halting the COVID-19 screening program, and employees may choose to withdraw their pending reasonable accommodation requests for screening exemption,” an internal CBP memorandum stated. National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd confirmed to the DCNF that both the vaccine mandate and testing requirements have been lifted.

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Border Patrol Union Tells ACLU ‘Go to Hell,’ Urges Votes for Pro-Border Defense Candidates

After another clash with foreign nationals illegally entering the U.S., the union representing Border Patrol agents is urging Americans to vote on Nov. 8 for candidates who will defend them, the rule of law, and the southern border.

On Monday, mostly single male Venezuelans, Mexicans and Hondurans crossed the Rio Grande River and attempted to illegally enter the U.S. near El Paso, Texas, and allegedly assaulted Border Patrol agents demanding to be let into the country.

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Biden Admin Weighing Plan to House Migrants in Guantanamo: Report

The Biden administration is weighing a plan to house migrants at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, according to NBC News.

The White House National Security Council asked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for the number of Haitian migrants apprehended at sea that would require them to designate a third country for them to stay while they await processing to enter the U.S., NBC reported, citing two U.S. officials and an internal document. If there is an overwhelming number of Haitian migrants for a third country, the Biden administration is considering Guantanamo Bay as a holding center.

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Illegals Flagged as Potential National Security Risks Soared Nearly 600 Percent in 2021

Border Patrol saw an almost 600% increase in fiscal year 2022 in the number of illegal migrants flagged as “special interest” over national security concerns, according to internal U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

A “special interest” migrant is someone who isn’t a U.S. citizen who frequently travels in areas designated as national security concerns due to terrorist activity or other types of “nefarious activity,” according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Border Patrol agents encountered 25,627 “special interest” illegal migrants compared to the 3,675 encounters in fiscal year 2021, according to the data.

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Commentary: The White House Is Creating a Texas-Border Patrol Standoff

The tragic results of the Biden Administration’s extremist immigration policies have become increasingly clear. By now there is abundant video evidence of large groups of foreign nationals wading across the Rio Grande, seeking shelter under highway overpasses, and walking through gaps in the unfinished border wall. These are the obvious results. 

Less obvious are the other potentially dangerous situations these policies create. This is not just about talking points for politicians to debate, but real-world situations where people can be injured or killed.

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Commentary: When America Needs More Border Patrol, the Swamp Hires More IRS Agents

To know what our elected officials truly prioritize, it is important to ignore their teleprompter-fed rhetoric and focus on their actions. As Deep Throat once told Bob Woodward in a dark, underground parking garage, “Follow the money.”

At this point, it would take a certain kind of partisan dead-ender to deny our nation faces an immigration crisis. Too many years of our leaders refusing to enforce our immigration laws, combined with the current White House’s blatant contempt for those laws, have brought us to a point of critical mass where the country cannot withstand much more.

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‘Make My Day,’ Abbott Says to Adams in Response to Threats

The war of words between New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott escalated this week as buses of foreign nationals who’ve entered the U.S. illegally arrive in Adams’ city. The buses arriving at the Port Authority generally carry between 50 and 100 people. Abbott says that’s compared to the more than 5,000 apprehended a day in the five Border Patrol sectors in Texas at the southern border.

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Border Patrol Regularly Stopping Cubans off of Florida Coast

While the overwhelming majority of foreign nationals entering the U.S. illegally do so through the southern border, Miami Sector Border Patrol agents are regularly interdicting Cubans and others attempting to reach Florida, often arriving on small makeshift boats. Law enforcement officers also are regularly confiscating drugs that wash up on shore.

Last weekend, “Good Samaritans” found 126 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $2 million that had washed up on the beach at Ocean Pointe Pool Beach Marina in Tavernier, the Monroe County Sheriff’s office said. That is as Miami Border Patrol Sector agents apprehend and take into custody mostly Cuban men making landfall off the Florida coast on a near daily basis.

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Border Patrol Regularly Stopping Cubans off of Florida Coast

While the overwhelming majority of foreign nationals entering the U.S. illegally do so through the southern border, Miami Sector Border Patrol agents are regularly interdicting Cubans and others attempting to reach Florida, often arriving on small makeshift boats. Law enforcement officers also are regularly confiscating drugs that wash up on shore.

Last weekend, “Good Samaritans” found 126 pounds of cocaine with an estimated street value of $2 million that had washed up on the beach at Ocean Pointe Pool Beach Marina in Tavernier, the Monroe County Sheriff’s office said. That is as Miami Border Patrol Sector agents apprehend and take into custody mostly Cuban men making landfall off the Florida coast on a near daily basis.

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Border Patrol, Facing Low Morale, Offers $10K Hiring Bonus for New Agents

As the Border Patrol and various other immigration enforcement agencies face increasingly low morale and a historically disastrous immigration crisis, the agency is now offering an additional $10,000 hiring bonus in an effort to recruit new agents.

Fox News reports that the bonus was announced in a notice released on Monday, which said that any new agents would be given $5,000 as a “recruitment incentive” after completing the academy, followed by another $5,000 if they are assigned to “hard-to-fill” areas in Texas and Arizona.

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Biden Admin Reducing Illegal Border Crossing Prosecutions: Report

Prosecutions of illegal border crossings under the Biden administration have significantly decreased amid historically high migrant encounters, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memo The Washington Free Beacon obtained.

There were only 2,896 migrants transferred to the U.S. Marshal’s custody in the 2021 fiscal year, compared to 13,213 during the previous fiscal year and 20,604 in fiscal year 2019, according to the memo.

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Border Agents Stop Driver Attempting to Smuggle More than Enough Fentanyl to Kill the Entire Population of San Diego

Border Patrol agents in California on Monday seized enough fentanyl to kill over 2 million people. The population of San Diego is an estimated 1.4 million.

Agents in the El Centro border sector searched the vehicle at a highway checkpoint, where they found six black packages wrapped in cellophane hidden inside the car’s dashboard and air vents, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said Wednesday. The male driver, 53, and the female passenger, 27, in the car were both from Mexico and didn’t have the proper documents to be in the U.S.

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DeSantis: Texas Should Be Sending Illegal Immigrants Back to Mexico

Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says Texas shouldn’t be allowing illegal immigrants to enter the state, echoing sentiments conservative Texans have been arguing for over a year.

“What Texas needs to do is just send them [illegal immigrants] back across the border,” Gov. DeSantis said at a recent press conference in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. “Who cares what the Feds are saying. They aren’t doing their job.

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Border Patrol Records Another Record High of Apprehensions, Encounters at Southern Border in May

Crowd of immigrants

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol published official data Thursday for apprehensions and encounters May: the highest monthly total in recorded U.S. history of 239,416.

CBP published the data after The Center Square published preliminary numbers received from a Border Patrol agent.

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Border Patrol Memo Lays the Groundwork for Mass Release of Illegal Immigrants into the U.S.

Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz instructed agency leadership on how the agency plans to release migrants amid a border surge, according to a memo sent Thursday exclusively obtained by The Daily Caller News Foundation.

In the memo, which was sent to chief patrol agents and directorate chiefs, Ortiz recognized that Border Patrol faces a “current migrant surge and is preparing for the anticipated increase in encounters of undocumented noncitizens following the anticipated lifting of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s [CDC] Title 42 public health order.”

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More Illegal Aliens Crossed the Border in April Than Any Month in Modern History

In the month of April, at least 234,088 illegal aliens crossed the border into the United States, smashing all previous records for the highest monthly total of illegal border crossings in modern history.

As reported by the Washington Examiner, the over 234,000 figure comes from successful interceptions by border authorities, and thus does not account for so-called “gotaways” who evaded the Border Patrol. The numbers were reported by a court document obtained by the Examiner on Monday.

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