Behind the Scenes of US-Mexico Border Crisis

EL PASO, Texas—On the outskirts of this west Texas desert town, the “no go zone” of the U.S. border with Mexico is pitch black and tense at 10 p.m. Darkness suits everyone’s interests here; it appears neither border crossers nor U.S. Border Patrol agents want to be seen before they make their move.

Anapra Road and the connecting wall route are where illegal immigrants and their cartel handlers now choose to cross in this region—and they will use force if they feel it necessary. Nearly a dozen Border Patrol vehicles and at least as many agents sit, with their lights off, behind a partition of scrub brush. When cars pass by, their heads snap upward and in tandem, they all turn to watch. Their large presence indicates anticipation of something.

Down the road, there’s a rectangular cutout in the wall. This portal from the world to the United States is large enough for about one man to get through at a time. Watching over the hole, a Border Patrol agent sits in a nearby vehicle. And he waits. He knows migrants are coming.

In September, Border Patrol agents reported nearly 54,000 apprehensions of illegal immigrants along the U.S. border with Mexico, between ports of entry. That doesn’t include the thousands of “gotaways”—the ones who were observed but not caught, and the ones who were never seen.

At the ports of entry, Customs and Border Protection recorded 48,000 migrants.

That number is actually down from last spring—though, of course, the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

The Biden administration credits the decrease to its summer crackdown on crossings and its smartphone app, CBP One. The app is intended to encourage migrants to follow the protocol rather than cross the border surreptitiously.

“Use of the CBP One app to schedule appointments at ports of entry has increased CBP’s capacity to process migrants in a more efficient and orderly manner while cutting out unscrupulous smugglers who endanger and profit from vulnerable migrants,” the administration claims.

Farmers Kevin and Jennifer Ivey have spent their lives growing and harvesting cotton and pecans on their ranch in El Paso County, along Mexico’s border. Over the years, Kevin Ivey estimates his family has lost about $100,000 in stolen property and damaged equipment at the hands of migrants traveling through their property after crossing the border illegally.

Ivey said he noticed a “huge difference” in the number of migrants crossing through his property after President Joe Biden entered the Oval Office. Multiple trucks have been stolen off the Iveys’ farm, a large duffle bag of drugs was found on their property, and it is not uncommon for helicopters to fly overhead in pursuit of migrants seeking to evade Border Patrol agents.

With the U.S. presidential election quickly approaching, immigration is at the top of voters’ minds, according to Pew Research Center, second only to the economy.

“About six-in-ten voters (61%) today say immigration is very important to their vote—a 9 percentage point increase from the 2020 presidential election and 13 points higher than during the 2022 congressional elections,” Pew reports. “Immigration is now a much more important issue for Republican voters in particular: 82% of Trump supporters say it is very important to their vote in the 2024 election, up 21 points from 2020.”

Those polling numbers could be behind Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent about-face on immigration. In September, Harris made her way to Arizona for a speech about the issue.

“To reduce illegal border crossings, I will take further action to keep the border closed between ports of entry,” Harris said in the scrublands of Douglas, Arizona. Those measures include barring people entering illegally from ever receiving asylum. “Our system must be orderly and secure, and that is my goal,” she said.

She also alleged that her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, tanked a bill to fix the border. She said she would sign similar legislation if it was brought before her.

Chuck DeVore, chief national initiatives officer for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, contends that Harris is watching the polls closely.

“Bad polling is the sole reason why Vice President Harris has changed her messaging on the border—the chaos on the border is a huge political problem for Harris’ campaign,” he said.

As for Harris’ proposed border policies, DeVore added, “There’s nothing keeping the Biden-Harris administration from enacting those policies right now—why wait for the election?”

https://www.dailysignal.com/2024/10/23/pull-back-curtain-on-the-border-crisis-today/

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