Photos: Migrants Searching for Border Patrol Agents in Arizona Find CBP Port Inspectors Instead

LUKEVILLE, Arizona — Hundreds of mostly African migrants crossing into the United States from Mexico near Lukeville, Arizona, on Tuesday evening were hoping to find Border Patrol agents to surrender to. The migrants, hoping to gain release into the United States to pursue asylum claims, were instead greeted by Customs and Border Protection Officers whose traditional duties are to facilitate legitimate trade and travel at a nearby port of entry that the Biden Administration shut down in response to the surge in illegal crossings.

Randy Clark / Breitbart Texas

As Breitbart Texas stood by along the border wall near Lukeville, one group of more than 200 migrants walked through an opening in the border wall cut by Mexican cartel smugglers. The migrants faced no law enforcement resistance at the time of crossing and began a self-guided walk along the border wall, searching for Border Patrol agents. Several Customs and Border Protection Officers assigned to a shuttered port of entry in nearby Lukeville arrived at the border wall to transport the migrants to a rally point to await transportation further inland.

The inspectors are now tasked with performing duties once exclusively reserved for Border Patrol agents responsible for border security between the ports of entry. On Tuesday, no agents were available to answer the incursion of hundreds of migrants hoping to surrender.

In addition to the garbage that littered the Organ Pipe National Monument left behind by the migrants, the inspectors retrieved an extended pocketknife discarded by the migrants, an indicator of the dangers faced by the officers normally accustomed to working at the closed port.

The port closure at Lukeville has a devastating financial impact miles from the border in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. The economy of the Mexican beach-side city, home to thousands of U.S. expatriates, is highly dependent on tourism from the United States. According to the city’s visitor’s bureau, more than 1.7 million tourists visited Puerto Penasco this year. According to a recent news report, some of the city’s 67,000 residents say the port closure, now on its tenth day, has turned the city into a ghost town.

The scene observed by Breitbart in Lukeville is eerily similar. A convenience store, restaurant, and a duty-free shop were closed on Tuesday and will likely remain shuttered until the port reopens. Customs and Border Protection have not announced the expected date for reopening the area’s only port of entry.

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs (D) visited Lukeville over the weekend after sending a scathing letter to the Whitehouse on Friday criticizing the closure of the port of entry. Hobbs is demanding $512 million in federal funds to offset state expenses to cope with the migrant surge into her state. Hobbs described the closure of the port, writing, “The decision to close the Lukeville Port of Entry has led to an unmitigated humanitarian crisis in the area and has put Arizona’s safety and commerce at risk.”

Hobbs added, “Our ports of entry are essential to our state and our country’s economy, and it is vital that they be properly staffed and resourced to continue to fuel economic growth in the state.” Despite the governor’s pleas, the unabated flow of migrants continues, and the town of Lukeville remains shuttered.

The unabated incursion of mostly African migrants into Arizona does not appear to be slowing. According to Chief Patrol Agent John R. Modlin of the Tucson Border Patrol Sector, more than 36,000 migrants were apprehended within the Sector in 14 days. Lukeville remains the busiest crossing point within the Tucson Border Patrol Sector.

Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol.  Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.