EXCLUSIVE: 31K Migrants Apprehended at Border in 72 Hours, 7.3K Got-Aways

Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 31,000 migrants during the past 72 hours as the end of the CDC’s Title 42 approaches at midnight on May 11. In addition, another 7,300 migrants are known to have gotten away without being apprehended at the border.

During the past three days, Border Patrol agents in the nine southwest border sectors apprehended approximately 30,746 migrants who crossed the border between ports of entry, according to a law enforcement source speaking off the record. On Wednesday alone, agents apprehended more than 10,600 migrants. This is believed to be a new single-day apprehension record.

In addition to the nearly 31,000 migrant apprehensions, officials report that more than 7,330 migrants are classified as known got-aways. Known got-aways are a Border Patrol estimate of the number of migrants believed to have crossed the border without being apprehended. The number of got-aways increased from 2,307 on May 8 to 2,614 on May 10.

Combining the apprehended migrants and known got-aways brings the three-day total of known border crossers to more than 38,000 migrants — nearly 12,700 per day.

The Rio Grande Valley Sector remains the epicenter of the current migrant crisis. Of the nearly 31,000 migrants apprehended during the three-day period, more than 9,000 crossed into the extreme South Texas sector.

The Del Rio (5,279), Tucson (5066), and El Paso (4789) Sectors remain the next busiest sectors.

Breitbart Texas’ Randy Clark, a retired 32-year veteran Border Patrol supervisor, laid the blame for the growing pre-Title-42 end at the feet of the Biden administration and specifically, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. In an editorial on the eve of the end of Title 42, Clark wrote:

The truth of the matter lies with what migrants are experiencing after recent border crossings. In today’s world of technology, migrants are equal beneficiaries of the ability to quickly communicate with smartphones. Using communication apps such as WhatsApp and others, migrants immediately alert others to the scale of the Biden administration’s use of “Catch and Release.” From there, the rush to the border grows.

The Biden plan to deal with the migrants crossing post-Title 42 is to increase the use of the Title 8 expedited removal authority. Clark compared the use of Title 8 versus Title 42 in respect to border-agent processing time.

The increase in processing times under traditional Title 8 immigration authority, compared to Title 42, is significant and will cripple DHS’s ability to detain and process migrants without significant augmentation to detention capabilities. Under the CDC’s Title 42 expulsion authority, migrants are not allowed to present a claim for asylum. A Border Patrol agent can fully process a migrant under the authority in approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

In stark contrast, processing under Title 8 authority takes an average Border Patrol agent more than one hour without any complicating factors. Factors that slow the process include the need to utilize translation services for migrants who do not speak Spanish. That slows the process of obtaining biographical data and the requirement to explain intricate legal options to each migrant.

…

DHS also placed a limitation on the use of the expedited removal expansion, limiting the effectiveness of the option further. The process will not be applied to family unit migrants with children or unaccompanied migrants.

In response to the rapidly rising number of migrant apprehensions ahead of the end of Title 42, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the deployment of a 545-soldier Tactical Border Force to supplement the approximately 10,000 Texas Nation Guard soldiers and airmen already deployed under Operation Lone Star, Breitbart Texas reported.

“Biden sent 1,500 troops to the border to do paperwork,” the governor tweeted. “I deployed elite trained soldiers to defend Texas.”

The governor also stepped up the program of busing migrants from the Texas border region to Democrat-run sanctuary cities.

Officials with the Office of the Texas Governor told Breitbart Texas on Tuesday that the State of Texas is stepping up the busing of migrants from the border region to sanctuary cities in response to the most recent migrant surge. Three buses left Texas this week heading to Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia, officials stated.

The first bus arrived in Chicago on Tuesday morning, a source told Breitbart. Buses to New York City and Philadelphia remain en route.