From Military.com:
“Border Patrol: Military Has Contributed to 100,000
Apprehensions on Border”
The more than 5,000 active-duty and National Guard troops
deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border are providing valuable support at a time
when U.S. Border Patrol agents are "overwhelmed on a daily basis" by
asylum seekers, the agency's top official said Thursday. U.S. Border Patrol
Chief Carla Provost said an increase of large groups of immigrants turning
themselves in at the border has forced the agency to divert 40 to 60% of agents
from their security mission to provide humanitarian assistance. To fill the
breach, deployed active-duty troops have stepped up surveillance, providing
information to apprehend 15,600 illegal immigrants and contributing to the
seizure of 3,800 pounds of marijuana and $2,300 in cash. National Guard forces,
which are providing radio communications, maintenance and brush clearing
capabilities to the Border Patrol, have furnished 5,800 hours of air support
and contributed to 94,000 apprehensions, as well as the seizure of 24,000
pounds of marijuana, 131 pounds of methamphetamine and $7,000. "The situational awareness helps keep the limited number
of agents we have on the border safe and aware of illegal activity,"
Provost told the House Homeland Security Border Security, Facilitation and
Operations subcommittee during a hearing on the Defense Department's deployment
to the U.S.-Mexican border. President Donald Trump began sending National Guard
troops to the southern border last April to augment U.S. presence along the
divide and provide support and surveillance services to the Department of
Homeland Security. Thousands of active-duty service members were sent in
October to serve as a deterrent. They have performed road maintenance,
vegetation clearing, fleet maintenance, communications and surveillance
support. Provost said that while the service members are not operating in law
enforcement or interdiction capacities, some have contact with migrants as
drivers of transport vehicles or while handing out meals. She added, however,
that they "have no custodial requirements." Instead, they provide
vital support to an agency stretched thin, pulled away to process asylum
seekers, including more than 1,000 who arrived at 4 a.m. one day last month,
"the largest group in the Border Patrol's 95-year history," Provost
said. "As long as we face this crisis, I will continue to ask for DoD
support," she continued. Provost said she'd like to see Congress change
immigration laws to dispel a notion among immigrants that they will be allowed
in the country if they arrive with children. Current laws, she said, are
encouraging families to make a risky trip or send their children alone.
According to Provost, families from 52 countries have illegally crossed the
border this year -- 742 in the last two weeks from African countries. Others hail
from Peru, Romania, Ecuador, Vietnam and Brazil. The deployment of U.S. forces
to the border and Trump's declaration of a national emergency have drawn
criticism for what some say is a manufactured emergency and political maneuver
to galvanize the president's voter base. Members of Congress have said that
border crossings are actually at a low, but Provost said her agency, with the
support of DoD surveillance, is aware of 100,000 immigrants who entered at the
border and evaded arrest, what the agency calls "gotaways." "These
are just the ones we know about even with Defense Department support," she
said. Planning is underway to house up to 5,000 immigrant children on U.S.
military bases, including at 1,400 at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Other bases under
consideration to house children are Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, and Fort
Benning, Georgia. "This crisis, and it is a crisis ... this is not like
any crisis I have seen in my career when we are talking the humanitarian side
of the house," Provost said. As of April 30, Health and Human Services had
received referrals for about 40,900 such children this fiscal year. More than
80,000 people are in custody, according to Acting Homeland Security Kevin
McAleenan. Lawmakers said they have concerns that the administration is not
working to resolve the humanitarian crisis and instead is preparing for a
long-term DoD presence, what subcommittee chairwoman Rep. Kathleen Rice, D-New
York, called "a multi-year deployment of active-duty soldiers to the
border" in a steep escalation of the Pentagon's role there. "These
policy decisions will have consequences and long-term effects. Broad questions
remain whether the actions this administration has taken are an appropriate use
of DoD and DHS resources," she said. Committee member John Joyce,
R-Pennsylvania, asked whether more National Guard troops could be used at the
border to help what he described as an "unprecedented crisis." "Over
144,000 attempted to illegally enter along the southwest border in May 2019, a
622% increase over the same month two years ago. ... We are overwhelmed,"
he said. The debate over Trump's proposed border wall has sharply divided the
nation, with the issue affecting nearly every debate in Congress and prompting
an unprecedented 35-day government shutdown earlier this year. On Thursday
toward the hearing's end, Provost stepped into the political firestorm, saying
remarks by New York Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that the U.S. is
running concentration camps at the border were "personally offensive."
Provost said her agents are "doing the best they can," given the
limited resources U.S. Customs and Border Protection has been given to handle
the influx of asylum seekers or those apprehended while illegally crossing. "Agents
[are] bringing in toys for children that they are buying with their personal
money. They are bringing in clothes. They are feeding babies. They are going
above and beyond, day in and day out, to try to care for these individuals to
the best of their personal ability," she said. "This is not what they
are trained for. I am extremely offended by those comments."
^ The following quote from this article says it all: “Active-duty
troops have stepped up surveillance, providing information to apprehend 15,600
illegal immigrants and contributing to the seizure of 3,800 pounds of marijuana
and $2,300 in cash. National Guard forces, which are providing radio
communications, maintenance and brush clearing capabilities to the Border
Patrol, have furnished 5,800 hours of air support and contributed to 94,000
apprehensions, as well as the seizure of 24,000 pounds of marijuana, 131 pounds
of methamphetamine and $7,000.” If this isn’t a crisis that needs to be
addressed then I don’t know what is. ^
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