Tagged: U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)

At least 400K migrants crossed border into U.S. this year

(BREITBART) — U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 400,000 migrants who illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border between ports of entry during Fiscal Year 2018. The number of migrants arrested represents a significant increase over the previous year’s total of 303,916.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials reported on Tuesday afternoon that 396,579 migrants were apprehended during the fiscal year that ended on September 30. Of those, Border Patrol agents apprehended 107,212 Family Unit Aliens (FMUA) and 50,036 Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC).

CBP officials previously stated that the numbers represent a “clear indicator that migration flows are responding to gaps in our nation’s legal framework.”

“Our nation faces a dangerous crisis on the border that threatens American communities,” DHS Spokeswoman Katie Waldman told Breitbart News in response to an inquiry about border migration numbers. “Congress refuses to close catch-and-release loopholes in the law that would allow authorities to detain and remove family units safely and expeditiously.”

The removal of actual family units, or those posing as family units, has been made virtually impossible by Congressional inaction – which will most likely result in record numbers of families arriving illegally in the United States this year,” Waldman stated.

[READ MORE]

Trump administration preparing Texas wildlife refuge for first border wall segment

(TEXAS OBSERVER) — by Melissa del Bosque

For at least six months, private contractors and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have been quietly preparing to build the first piece of President Trump’s border wall through the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge in South Texas.

The federally owned 2,088-acre refuge, often called the “crown jewel of the national wildlife refuge system,” could see construction begin as early as January 2018, according to a federal official who has been involved in the planning but asked to remain anonymous.

“This should be public information,” the official told the Observer. “There shouldn’t be government officials meeting in secret just so they don’t have to deal with the backlash. The public has the right to know about these plans.”

CBP plans to construct an 18-foot levee wall that would stretch for almost three miles through the wildlife refuge, according to the official. The structure would consist of a concrete base, which would serve as a levee, and be topped with a fence made of steel bollards, similar to a levee wall built almost a decade ago near Hidalgo, Texas. A second federal official confirmed these details to the Observer.

The official said that the Department of Homeland Security picked the Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge as the first site for a border wall segment because it’s owned by the federal government, avoiding legal entanglements with private landowners. At least 95 percent of the Texas border is privately owned. As the Observer’s June cover story, “Over the Wall,” detailed, at least one-third of the 320 condemnation suits filed against landowners in 2007 are still pending.

[READ MORE]