SAN DIEGO: Many in the media blame the wrong people for the contentious illegal immigration at our Southern border. They blame Donald Trump, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Border Patrol, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). All take the heat for Biden’s reckless rollback of everything that was working at our borders. Think of it this way – if you’ve got a military Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle cruising down the road to accomplish a vital mission, you don’t remove the protective armor.
Nor do you implant landmines in the road to explode beneath American lives.
Biden’s dismantling of security measures and relaxation of immigration policies sends a signal to migrating masses, criminals and terrorists. He’s ordered options to sidestep the necessary vetting process other law-abiding immigrants complied with. Biden’s ‘shortcut’ to citizenship is a ruse they soon discover when met by federal officers near that tunnel, at the hole in the fence, or waiting on the beach. Or caught in dangerous crossings or injured crossing the unforgivable terrain, they soon find out the very people there to keep them honest will save their lives as well.
Border security must not fall like sand through open border hands.
Tom Homan former ICE Chief says “the new administration’s steps to narrow the criteria for immigration enforcement are “just ridiculous,”” reports Epoch Times.
“It’s almost like it’s not illegal to be illegally in the United States anymore,” Homan said in February.
The call of U.S. ‘open borders’ creates a humanitarian crisis.
“Border Patrol agents have found more than 3,500 unaccompanied children along the Rio Grande Valley Sector in the last two months, Valley Central reported in December 2020 says Daily Caller, adding,
“Recent data shows that the number of unaccompanied children is increasing rapidly at the border.” This includes abandoned infants and toddlers. They should be back home safe and warm, not alone and afraid without family.
National Review reported yesterday that “The Border Patrol transferred over 7,000 migrant children into HHS shelters last month, the highest ever recorded during the month of February.” This despite the threat of COVID spread.
Criminals and sex predators travel in these groups using children to cross outside the ports of entry. Their nefarious motives hide among the young and innocent as they move drugs and contraband and smuggle humans.
On March 3rd, San Diego Sector (SDC) Border Patrol agents arrested a man in East County San Diego who had entered the U.S. illegally. A records check revealed that the man had served time for sexual assault against a child in 2017. This incident marks SDC’s 25th such arrest since the start of fiscal year 2021 and is on its way to making a new record high for the area,” says USBP.
It’s a preventable crisis when children are separated from their parents and held in “makeshift shelters or cages.” It’s called use official ports of entry, follow the law, and be patient. Why doesn’t Biden promote law-abiding behavior? Instead causing the plight of abandoned children to be at its worst.
This is how DHS policy works under Title 42 Expulsions and Title 8 Enforcements currently.
Think of it as law enforcement triage.
Border Patrol commentary starts here as I spoke with Jeff Stephenson, Border Patrol Supervisor, San Diego Sector,
“We’re the first step to a bigger machine – the first gear in an overall process,” says Stephenson.
SAN DIEGO, 2021. Photo Dave McKinney
He likened it to the local police. They do the initial encounter, the stop. Then issue the ticket. Then the offender goes to court. But the local police officer is not the judge. Border Patrol works within federal law.
“Most of the kids are processed under Title 8. Kids who are Mexican nationals are TYPICALLY returned to Mexico in coordination with the Mexican Consulate,” says Stephenson.
In the Border Patrol San Diego sector, illegal aliens load up in vehicle transports, driven to local ports of entry after initial processing. For asylum and a lot of other reasons, Border Patrol turns some over to ICE. “People who claim asylum are, in most cases, given a notice to appear and then turned over to ICE for disposition,” confirms Stephenson. Although he makes it clear that ICE handles their release depending on the case.
Citizen and Immigration Services (CIS) is the agency that determines their eligibility for asylum.
Related Article: Border Patrol exclusive: No two miles the same in fight to secure the Homeland
Border Patrol turns sick and injured over to Health and Human Services. The U.S. attorney’s office, the Department of Justice (DOJ) comes to the triage to pursue criminal prosecution.
There are nuances with every illegal entry case.
“Depending on whether claiming fear, what country they are from, if they have kids, whether somebody’s pregnant – all these things can change the outcome and how the process works,” says Stephenson.
End of Stephenson commentary.
“When unaccompanied children are found by agents, they are reportedly medically cleared and then transferred to the U.S. Office of Refugee and Resettlement. From there, they are placed in facilities throughout the country, “reports Daily Caller.
Biden’s rollback of successful border security replaces Trump’s as fast as he can write it. It equates in this writer’s opinion to reducing security that keeps our nation sovereign and safe. His laws/policies make it easy to enter the U.S. illegally. His order to stop border wall construction is a travesty.
SAN DIEGO, 2021. U.S./Mexico border. Tijuana left. Photo Dave McKinney
Biden’s illegal aliens see no wall, they get driver’s licenses, voting rights, free education, and health care, and now stimulus checks.
Still, how do you process the law with blind trust?
When police catch a thief in the act – they don’t set them free to await trial without bail. Asylum cases that are freed on their own recognizance are notorious for not showing up to court.
“American immigration courts consistently have the highest failure to appear (FTA) rates of any state or federal courts in the country.2 From 1996 through 2017, 37 percent of all aliens free pending trial disappeared. From the 2,680,598 foreign nationals that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) released on their own recognizance, 1,320,000, received deportation orders, 75 percent of them (993,593) for failure to appear,” says Center for Immigration Studies.
In addition, Sanctuary cities help illegal aliens disappear. Some commit crimes and remain safe from deportation. What about the victims of illegal alien criminals under sanctuary city protection – who comforts their families? (‘Angel Mom’ Says Biden Creating ‘Super Highway’ to Border)
The Biden domino of reducing safeguards in immigration policy.
“The Biden administration has stopped the Trump administration practice of sending children back to Mexico or their home countries if they were traveling with an adult who wasn’t their parent. It also has halted construction on the border wall, rescinded a Trump policy that requires non-Mexican migrants to stay in Mexico until their immigration court date in the U.S., and all but ended deportations of illegal aliens, ” Washington Times reports.
ICE now allows illegal aliens to challenge the courts. Under the Biden DHS new plan, they will begin to process approximately 25,000 asylum-seekers that President Trump returned under his “Remain in Mexico” policy. (Which Biden stopped).
“The immigrants will be released in El Paso and Brownsville, Texas, and San Diego, Calif,” says American Military News.
ICE has established a process that allows immigrants and their lawyers to contest their arrest and detention if they believe their cases do not “align” with the Biden administration’s new enforcement policies, according to a notice sent to Congress. pic.twitter.com/xYR6CFJTBW
— Camilo Montoya-Galvez (@camiloreports) March 5, 2021
Biden claims he’s making immigration policy to align with our nation’s values. How does allowing the release of COVID-positive illegal aliens align with values? Or stopping wall construction to help keep out terrorists, drugs, and massive caravans? Where do abandoned children fit in a pandemic? If an American restaurant or gym can’t open its doors, why is America opening to an un-vetted world?
How COVID changed things for Border Patrol.
Trump’s DHS made Border Patrol’s job safer and easier, certainly not harder.
“On March 21, 2020, the President, in accordance with Title 42 of the United States Code Section 265, determined that by reason of existence of COVID-19 in Mexico and Canada, there is a serious danger of the further introduction of COVID-19 into the United States; that prohibition on the introduction of persons or property, in whole or in part, from Mexico and Canada, is required in the interest of public health,” states CBP.
Health then was a priority. Agents still process in the field remotely with computers (to the extent possible). They get illegal aliens’ fingerprints and look for signs of illness or injuries. They might call CBP Emergency Medical Services (EMS) – or they might go straight to the hospital to potentially test for COVID. Border Patrol does not test for COVID.
Related Article: The Wall a CDN Exclusive: A visit to U.S. Border Patrol, San Diego (photos-video)
Border Patrol avoids taking them back to the station as much as possible. Rather takes them straight to ports of entry and expels them under Title 42.
Read CBP website about Title 42 Expulsions and Title 8 Enforcements. (Title 42 is a temporary provision according to CBP)
An Agent’s field encounter very often saves lives.
“On Wednesday [March 3rd], at approximately 11:15 p.m. agents assigned to the San Diego Sector Foreign Operations Branch (FOB) received a call from Government of Mexico (GOM) officials. GOM stated that 10 people had crossed the border illegally and were currently lost and experiencing life-threatening conditions due to rain, fog, and near freezing temperatures,” says CBP.
That’s what Border Patrol does – they protect humanity on their turf. Yet, if there is no penalty for breaking a law – why obey it?
SAN DIEGO, 2021. U.S./Mexico border ends at Pacific Ocean. Photo Dave McKinney
Rather than give CBP and ICE more armor and tools for their vital missions, Biden gives preference to those they are trying to keep from illegally, and dangerously, crossing the border. Biden policies force us backward, not forward.
The blame falls on those in a WALLED-IN Capitol complex, not the Border Patrol guardians preserving liberty on land and seashores.
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