If you didn't have the chance on Monday, go back and read this piece – and listen to this interview – with Fox's Bill Melugin down at the border. What he conveyed, based on his reporting and personal eyewitness accounts, was, and is, absolutely breathtaking.
Part of our conversation centered on the emerging reality that a growing number of illegal immigrants encountered at the southern border, which of course does not include tens of thousands of monthly detected and undetected "got-aways," are arriving from countries beyond Mexico and the "Northern Triangle":
In past most illegal border crossers were from Mexico, Northern Triangle. Now, since start of Biden adm, new category, 'other,' is biggest. Illegal crossers from Russia, Turkey, India, Romania, more. Chart lines up closely with Biden arrival. From @axios: https://t.co/bXMmUHzdpQ pic.twitter.com/6iJpWK7ns5
— Byron York (@ByronYork) January 30, 2022
Startling Stat: Nearly 45% of all migrants who illegally crossed the southern border in Dec were from countries OTHER than Mexico and the Northern Triangle... (79,678 of the 178,840 total) with some from Syria, Ukraine and Russia as @FoxNews reports - https://t.co/7dIyZgMkHO
— Griff Jenkins (@GriffJenkins) February 1, 2022
An illustration of what this means in practice:
Recently, DRT apprehended 15 subjects from Pakistan, Syria, Peoples Rep of China, Eritrea, Sudan, Tajikistan, & Uzbekistan.
— Chief Patrol Agent Jason D. Owens (@USBPChiefDRT) February 1, 2022
Oct 1 & Dec 31, DRT encountered subjects from 84 different countries.
DYK: DRT has agents who speak multiple languages (not just English & Spanish) pic.twitter.com/P9iP7afisI
Three months, 84 countries. This data tells us three things: (1) The word is out that the US border is porous, and people from all over the world are seeking to exploit that vulnerability to enter our territory unlawfully. (2) The spigot has not been turned off or even significantly mitigated. The incentive to come here illegally remains powerful, and people believe they can get in and have a good chance of staying. Given the Biden administration's announced policies and actions, why wouldn't people believe this? (3) The White House's embarrassing "root causes" talking point is even less operative and relevant than ever. They keep repeating that useless mantra, as if deploying Vice President Harris to Guatemala to discuss hardships on the ground could make a meaningful dent in this problem. It's absurd and insulting. The largest country-of-origin category among illegal immigrants apprehended at the border is now "other." There is no realistic way to address "root causes" all over the world. The federal government's job is to protect our sovereignty and secure our borders, not ramble about quixotic solutions.
Also, as always, it's not just a national sovereignty issue at stake. It's a public safety and national security issue, too. We know that criminals are likely disproportionately represented in the "got-away" category, as their incentive is not to enter the official system then hope for release, as many other unlawful migrants do. How many people like this aren't being apprehended, especially with resources stretched thin?
A sex offender convicted for aggravated sexual assault of a child in Harris County, TX, was discovered amongst a group of 8 undocumented migrants after they entered the U.S. illegally.
— Chief Patrol Agent Brian Hastings (@USBPChiefRGV) February 1, 2022
Two MS-13 gang members were also identified within 2 groups.https://t.co/aCzL9dhwdi pic.twitter.com/5yqFWgJEF1
Finally, we touched on this in a previous post, but it is mind-blowing that DHS may suppress the results of the promised investigation into the false "whipping" smears leveled by the president, much of his team, and many in the news media, against Border Patrol agents last year. The American people were promised a prompt probe, which has resulted in...crickets. It seems clear that the administration doesn't want to embarrass itself further by admitting the president rushed to judgment and embraced a racially-charged lie against US agents, so they're hoping the whole thing will just go away. It cannot be allowed to just go away. They elevated the slander. They induced a fact-free moral panic about it. The president himself vowed that the "offenders" would be punished. We deserve an update and closure:
SCOOP: In a letter sent to DHS Secretary today, Republicans demanded the Biden administration release findings of an investigation into unfounded White House accusations that Border Patrol agents had whipped Haitian migrants https://t.co/BAfHN1rpJb
— Anna Giaritelli (@Anna_Giaritelli) January 31, 2022
Republicans are demanding that the Biden administration release the findings of an investigation it initiated last September following unfounded White House accusations that Border Patrol agents had whipped Haitian migrants. Seven House Republicans, including three from Texas, asked Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in a letter sent Monday to publish the report immediately, according to a copy of the document obtained by the Washington Examiner.
Can any journalist not working at Fox or a right-leaning outlet be bothered to press for answers on this? Or are they embarrassed, too, given the press' role in stoking the garbage "whipping" accusations?
