Thread: Mexico Border Arrests Down Except In South Texas, OTM up

Illegal Immigration: Mexico Border Arrests Down Except In South Texas

By Ildefonso Ortiz
Published March 15, 2013
Fox News Latino

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  (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

MCALLEN, Texas – The volume of immigrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border is at a historical low, reflecting statistics not seen since the 1970s.
Except in South Texas.
The Rio Grande Valley, the deepest corner of Texas abutting Mexico, actually saw an increase of undocumented immigrants last year — nearly 100,000 arrests, a significant increase from close to 60,000 in 2011.
And in the Border Patrol’s Del Rio sector, also in South Texas, arrests also jumped in the same period, though more moderately.
All other areas of the U.S.-Mexico border saw big drops in immigrant arrests. So what’s up in Texas?
The Border Patrol’s answer: As elsewhere along the border, the count of Mexican crossers is down, but in Texas the flow of “OTMs,” or “Other Than Mexicans” — mostly Central Americans — is actually up. Way up.
“That is a new trend that we are looking at closely,” said Daniel Tirado, spokesman for the agency’s Rio Grande Valley sector. “We had more OTM’s than Mexican nationals.”
Of the nearly 100,000 arrests in the sector, nearly half were marked as OTMs — an unusually high percentage. In the border’s busiest sector, Tucson, Ariz., less than 18,000 of the total 120,000 arrests last year were OTMs.
While nationwide Border Patrol has seen a 50 percent decrease in arrests compared to 2008, the upswing in Texas can’t be attributed to a single factor, agency spokesman Tirado said. It’s more likely a combination of various issues, including the increasing count of Central American youngsters escaping violence at home.
In the past three to four years, the number of immigrants that travelled through the Arizona and California border had boomed. This increase in numbers also resulted in a higher number of immigrants who died along the way, said Tom Power legal advocate for the Texas Civil Rights Project.
One of the main factors that can be tied to the shift in routes is an increase in border security in other areas such as Arizona, forcing more immigrants to South Texas, Power said.
The increase in immigrants from Central and South America can be tied not only to the poor economic situation there, but also to spillover violence from Mexico caused by drug cartels expanding their territory.
“Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras have been subjected to an increase in crude violence as the Zetas and the Sinaloa cartel fight for control of those areas,” said Correa-Cabrera said.
For some OTMs, particularly those trekking from South America, it’s simply about getting to the nearest border-crossing spot — and traveling north through Mexico, the easiest area to reach is the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas.
Traveling to crossing points in New Mexico, Arizona or California would imply more time and money.

Ildefonso Ortiz is a freelance writer based in McAllen, Texas



Illegal Immigration: Mexico Border Arrests Down Except In South Texas | Fox News Latino

Tucson Border Patrol Sector Monthly Apprehensions ---262 miles (Source: DHS/CPB)
-----------OCT---NOV---DEC
FY2013--9249--9194--8487 (+9% increase above the first 3 months FY2012}
FY2012--9306--8362--7108

Perhaps a far better question is: Can we, the people, trust DHS to provide us with a reliable assessment of the situation along our Southwest border? The answer to that question, based on what they say about the border being secure, is unfortunately, NO, we cannot trust what they tell us ... or even what they report

Forums for Justice - government of the people, by the people, for the people - The Problems http://bit.ly/UyaqVP

Originally Posted by Buzzm1

. . . Perhaps a far better question is: Can we, the people, trust DHS to provide us with a reliable assessment of the situation along our Southwest border? The answer to that question, based on what they say about the border being secure, is unfortunately, NO, we cannot trust what they tell us ... or even what they report[/B]

But yet you use their figures to prove your point?

JohnDoe2 posted

But yet you use their figures to prove your point?

John Doe, since when was Tucson, Arizona, in South Texas?

Originally Posted by Buzzm1

John Doe, since when was Tucson, Arizona, in South Texas?

It isn't. But the headline says Mexico Border Arrests DOWN Except In South Texas and you used DHS figures that show they are actually UP in the Tucson area, not down. FY2013--9249--9194--8487 (+9% increase above the first 3 months Which contradicts the headline and the info in the article. So are the DHS figures that you show correct or is the claim that they are down except in south Texas correct?

Or maybe DHS lied both times?

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

It isn't. But the headline says Mexico Border Arrests DOWN Except In South Texas and you used DHS figures that show they are actually UP in the Tucson area, not down. FY2013--9249--9194--8487 (+9% increase above the first 3 months Which contradicts the headline and the info in the article. So are the DHS figures that you show correct or is the claim that they are down except in south Texas correct?

Or maybe DHS lied both times?

John Doe, I was thinking that most readers would be smart enough to click on the link that I included with my original post ... it's obvious from your comments that I was wrong ... my apologies