Thread: Illegal Crossings Sharply Rising at Rio Grande

Number of migrants illegally crossing Rio Grande sharply rises

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 Rio Grande near McAllen, Texas, Nov. 12, 2015.

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.
By JULIA PRESTON New York Times News Service

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.

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.

There 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.

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.”


http://www.newsobserver.com/latest-n....html?AID=7236

by BOB PRICE
28 Nov 2015
701 comments

The numbers of unaccompanied children crossing the Mexican border into the United States continues to spike. October numbers of families crossing the border represents a 150 percent increase over the same month in 2014.

The spike is in contrast to a normal decrease this time of year. “The numbers have started going the other way,” Raul L. Ortiz, acting chief of the Border Patrol for the Rio Grande Valley, told the News & Observer.

The numbers of families crossing the border spiked to a 150 percent increase over last year while the numbers of unaccompanied children crossing spiked to nearly double the previous October numbers.

“We’re clearly seeing a significant uptick,” Marc Rosenblum, deputy director at the Migration Policy Institute in Washington D.C. told the Houston Chronicle, earlier this month. He confirmed that the slump of arrivals earlier this year may have been an anomaly, and that the recent numbers are in line with what trend lines predicted years ago.

The News & Observer reported the spike is being driven by women and children fleeing vicious gangs and rampant sexual violence. The women and children come to the U.S. to seek asylum.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said the situation in Central America is “a looming refugee crisis.”

Last week alone, the Border Patrol reported the capture of eleven illegal aliens who were being smuggled in a refrigerated truck at the Border Patrol checkpoint located in Falfurrias. Two other groups of illegal aliens were captured in other vehicles that same day. Falfurrias is located 80 miled from the border.

Cartel smugglers strategically push the unaccompanied children and women across the border during the hours of darkness to distract and tie up Border Patrol and other law enforcement officials to clear the way for smuggling operations to continue at other locations.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...inues-growing/

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.

A high murder rate in a country is no excuse for asylum. When in the hell did this become an excuse to enter the US illegally and make a claim for asylum? Most of these people aren't even from the districts of the country where much of this crime occurs. Puleeze! The majority of these murders are drug-related murders. If you want to reduce the murder rates south of the Border, then legalize the recreational drug trade in the US and bingo, all your narco-killers south of US are out of business and have no trade to protect.

Offering someone asylum because their country has a high murder rate would be like relocating people from the ghettos of Chicago to the Mayflower Hotel in DC to evade the high murder rate of Chicago! It's ridiculous! Besides, if you're evading narco-killers in Honduras, then it's because you're part of the narco business of Honduras.

Helicopters used for law enforcement along Rio Grande

McALLEN, Texas (AP) — From 700 feet in the air, the Rio Grande looks like an artery, winding into the horizon on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Hundreds of dirt trails and small canals resemble veins connecting the river to farmlands and roads that channel into highways and cities all across the Rio Grande Valley.

"Smugglers know how to use these trails and terrain to their advantage," said Rod Kise, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

"In some places they can hop the fence and be on a main highway in a matter of minutes."

The McAllen Air and Marine Branch hosted a media ride-along Monday morning on a UH-1H Huey.

This medium range helicopter, often used for rescue missions, provided a breathtaking view of Border Patrol officers in action patrolling the more than 300-mile riverbank and apprehending illegal crossers.

Since 2013, the Rio Grande Valley sector has become the busiest area for illegal crossings in the nation, surpassing Tucson, Arizona, which led in apprehensions since 1998.

In fiscal year 2014, more than 256,000 people were apprehended within an area stretching from the mouth of the Rio Grande to Falcon Lake, according to Customs and Border Protection statistics.

"We assist the Border Patrol between the ports of entry where the river winds. Not only does the foliage change along the river bank, but also the depth, making it very challenging for anyone that's not on an aircraft to patrol," said

William A Durham, director of air operations in McAllen. "We provide the eyes in the sky for any assistance that is needed on the border."

On a dirt road near Peñitas, just steps away from the river, officers dragged tires tied to the back of their SUV to clear the hundreds of migrant footprints left behind from the night before.

The scattered trail led to sugar cane fields, which can grow up to 10 feet high and provide excellent cover for someone trying to avoid detection, agents said.

Every season provides different challenges for air operations agents and changes the landscape they fly over every day.

Through the use of technology and expertise, the department has grown to be one of the most critical in CBP's mission, according to Durham.

"We have a skill set and a knowledge base that no one else has. . We apply it to the CBP's mission of counterterrorism, illegal crossings and narcotic interdictions," Durham said.

Durham's branch seized six aircraft last year, including a Beech King Air E90 airplane that was attempting to depart from the McAllen Miller International Airport with seven passengers onboard, believed to be in the country illegally.

The Office of Air and Marine contributed to the apprehension and arrest of more than 84,000 suspects and the seizure of about 50 tons of marijuana last fiscal year nationwide.

Recently, the OAM went through some significant changes, including a new initiative to educate the public on their mission and a name change that is more fitting, Durham said. "We are trying to apply this knowledge base to all

operations, so we changed our name to Air and Marine Operations.

It's subtle, but it's more accurate and part of a national initiative to show the public what we are and what we do."

In the Rio Grande Valley Sector, the bulk of the work for AMO agents is supporting the Border Patrol with their missions, not only near the river but all across the region, including rescues of migrants lost or in distress in the
brush near Falfurrias.

"These aircraft have been real life savers out in the ranchlands," Durham said, referring to the Huey that can lift up to 10 people and fly for two hours. "They are literally saving lives every day."

Border Patrol agents in the RGV sector estimate more than 700 rescues for fiscal year 2015, a more than 80 percent increase compared to last fiscal year, according to CBP statistics.

When Durham became director of the McAllen Air Branch in May 2013, they had six pilots and 12 aircraft in the branch based out of a row of hangars at the McAllen airport.

Over the past two years they have acquired three additional aircraft and hired 10 agents due to the increase in traffic through the area, Durham said.

They currently have 10 AS350 or A-Star's, which can fly at a maximum altitude of 16,000 feet for up to three hours and is equipped with infrared sensors and video cameras used for surveillance.

"If Homeland Security Investigations wants us to survey somebody going from point A to point B, we can do that," he added.

The AMO branch also assists local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in the Valley.

With the A-Star they conduct all kinds of air support including surveying of stash houses and tracking suspicious vehicles, Durham said.

"Before, the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Department didn't know to call us for air support and they do now," Durham said.

"This would limit us because people could not image all we could provide."

CBP is currently undergoing their largest recruitment effort in nearly a decade. Some of the new recruits will be AMO pilots.

Most of the recent hires are ex-military pilots who already have the minimum required 1,500 flight hours, Durham said.

Helicopters used for law enforcement along Rio Grande - The Eagle: Texas