Thread: CBP Announces Mass Migration Plans for Hurricane Ike

CBP News Release

CBP Announces Mass Migration Plans for Hurricane Ike

(Thursday, September 11, 2008)

Rio Grande Valley, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection is currently maintaining normal border security operations at and between our ports of entry in the potential impacted area of the border.


Chief Ron Vitiello, Rio Grande Sector Chief Patrol Agent, is CBP’s lead field coordinator during Hurricane Ike. We are actively maintaining liaison officers at local, state and FEMA command and coordination centers in order to most effectively commit our resources to those agencies and individuals in need. We have approximately 6,200 employees who are living in the potential impacted area and who continue to work toward keeping our country safe.


We have either forward deployed or put on alert some of our specialty units, Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue and Border Patrol Tactical Unit and have additional frontline personnel and equipment from outside the impacted area on standby to deploy should the need become necessary for us to maintain normal operations or assist in the recovery effort.


CBP enforcement responsibilities will not impede a safe, speedy and officially ordered evacuation. Saving lives is always the paramount responsibility of this department and the same is true at the border.


Our agents and officers are available to help anyone, regardless of citizenship or nationality. Further, our enforcement operations will not impede the evacuation and sheltering of residents during an officially ordered evacuation.


U.S. laws will not be suspended, but CBP's priority will be assisting local officials as they carry out a safe and speedy evacuation of people leaving the impacted area.


Should circumstances warrant, CBP field leaders have the authority to implement alternative measures, dependent on circumstances, to reduce the processing time for individuals seeking entry into the U.S. or passing through Border Patrol checkpoints.


U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Contacts For This News Release

Border Patrol HQ Public Affairs
Phone: (202) 344-1500

CBP Headquarters
Office of Public Affairs
1300 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Room 3.4A
Washington, DC 20229 Phone: (202) 344-1770 or
(800) 826-1471
Fax: (202) 344-1393

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/new ... 2008_2.xml

Should circumstances warrant, CBP field leaders have the authority to implement alternative measures, dependent on circumstances, to reduce the processing time for individuals seeking entry into the U.S. or passing through Border Patrol checkpoints.

Since latest reports show that Hurricane Ike will slam into Texas, is Mexico according the same courtesy to Americans fleeing?

Should circumstances warrant, CBP field leaders have the authority to implement alternative measures, dependent on circumstances, to reduce the processing time for individuals seeking entry into the U.S. or passing through Border Patrol checkpoints.

During a hurricane emergency, WHY "REDUCE the processing time for individuals seeking entry into the U.S. or passing through Border Patrol checkpoints?" Its not like they are trying to escape the high winds and rain, because according to the path of the hurricane, they will be headed right into it if they try to come into the U.S. Illegal aliens might take advantage of the situation by using fake id's.

because according to the path of the hurricane, they will be headed right into it if they try to come into the U.S. Illegal aliens might take advantage of the situation by using fake id's.

Makes for a great excuse when they could probably get to safer ground going south or inland in their own country.

Just saw the latest up-date and it's not even close to Mexico.

U.S. laws will not be suspended, but CBP's priority will be assisting local officials as they carry out a safe and speedy evacuation of people leaving the impacted area



And I agree, nothing should be done to impede the necessity of getting people......any people.....out of harm's way.

BUT, what is going to be done about checking immigration status for those attempting to cross the border back into the US after the danger has passed?

There should be no reason, under any circumstances whatsoever, why illegal aliens who fled into Mexico during the evacuation should be permitted to, once again, illegally enter this country and resume living and working here. Not only that, failure to check immigration status of those attempting to re-enter will just invite a repeat of the rampant fraud and theft we have seen each and every other time there has been an incident in which it became necessary to activate emergency relief efforts.

I can definitely understand why the BP and other agencies would not want to reveal any strategy they plan to implement beforehand, but it is something which both IAs and their advocates seem awfully concerned about. And, personally, I like it that they are concerned about things which, in the not too distant past, they would have had no concern about in the least.

To me, anyway, this concern seems to indicate that they ARE getting the message and are no longer operating under any illusions that IAs can continue to break our laws with impunity.

It should be interesting to see what happens when this whole thing is over and these folks try to get back in