U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended a total of 32 Mexican migrants in camouflage crossing the southern border, according to a U.S. official on Thursday. Mounted officers arrested the migrants around the Arizona-New Mexico state line, Fox News reported.
Interim Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin in Tuscon, Arizona shared several images of officers on horseback and a helicopter overhead, while the camouflaged migrants kneel or stand.
The Douglas Station’s #Horse Patrol Unit arrested a group of 32 migrants after illegally crossing the border near the #AZ / #NM state line. The 32 Mexican Nationals utilized camouflage clothing to blend into the surrounding vegetation. pic.twitter.com/7q1GKsvF9w
— John R. Modlin (@USBPChiefTCA) May 21, 2021
On Wednesday, Modlin shared images of 124 migrants on the ground huddled together after they surrendered to Border Patrol in Arizona Monday morning. “This group contained 105 unaccompanied children,” Modlin tweeted.
A group of 124 migrants surrendered to #BorderPatrol agents near San Miguel, AZ, early Monday morning. Although the majority of #Tucson Sector apprehensions this fiscal year are single adults, this group contained 105 unaccompanied children. @USBPChief pic.twitter.com/haZDqAGdMB
— John R. Modlin (@USBPChiefTCA) May 19, 2021
178,000 migrants were encountered at the border in the month of April. 13,000 of these individuals were unaccompanied minors. Federal agents encountered a pickup truck and cargo trailer last week southeast of El Paso, Texas with 20 migrants, and another 23 migrants were found packed in a vessel near San Diego, California. 124 migrants were arrested around San Miguel, Arizona this week of which more than 100 were unaccompanied minors.
Sector officials in Tuscon put out a statement last week noting how border crossings in the summer desert could prove to be fatal.
“The desert is vast and it’s treacherous, when you cross illegally you put your life in incredible peril,” Acting Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Sabri Dikman said. “I’m telling you this not only as a Border Patrol agent, but as one who spent his entire 23-year career in Arizona. I speak from experience.”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., received a classified memo Tuesday concerning the border crisis. According to McCarthy, the additionally shared information further informed him that the “border crisis has spiraled into a national security crisis.”
“Although the briefing I received today was classified, I can tell you that I’m even more concerned for America’s security than I was before,” McCarthy said. “More than 1,500 individuals evade law enforcement at the border every day, it must be immediately addressed.”
A Harvard CAPS-Harris poll found that 80 percent of voters said the border situation is “a crisis that needs to be addressed immediately.” Only 20 percent said the situation is “something that can be dealt with by the immigration system we have currently.” A poll by The Associated Press-NORC at the University of Chicago found that a mere 43 percent of voters approve of Biden’s handling of the border.
The White House has continued to deflect whether there is a legitimate surge. Press Secretary Jen Psaki walked back Biden’s “crisis” related comments in April. Vice President Kamala Harris was appointed as an administrative liaison, but has yet to visit the border.
