EDINBURG, Texas — Transferred border patrol agents have begun processing the increasing number of illegal immigrants who continue to arrive to this border region. The arrival of the 150 agents comes after accusations flew that U.S. Customs and Border Protection had been trying to downplay the problems at the southern border for the U.S. Presidential election.
Breitbart Texas reported last week about the announcement of the 150 agents who are being deployed from the Tucson, Del Rio and San Diego sectors to assist with the processing of illegal immigrants who turn themselves in or are captured by authorities. As revealed by U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, the numbers of apprehensions jumped from 39,501 in September to 46,195 in October.
The number of apprehensions and children detained for the month of October had not been seen in the last five fiscal years.
The new information was revealed by Secretary Johnson days after the November 8 presidential election. On October 30, Breitbart Texas reported exclusively on the accusations made by National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd who stated that the leadership of CBP had been trying to suppress the new spikes in illegal immigration ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Breitbart Texas asked Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Dustin Araujo about the timing of the announcement and the deployment of the agents. According to Araujo, the deployment of agents is a time consuming endeavor that requires considerable planning and logistics.
On Monday, the newly-deployed 150 agents arrived to the Rio Grande Valley where they sat various orientation meetings and prepared to begin their duties on Tuesday morning in three separate shifts–where they will process the thousands of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers that continue to arrive in southern Texas.
The agents will free up local officers to continue their patrol and enforcement operations along the border, Araujo said.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project and you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.