Over the past few days, I've interviewed two of Fox's most experienced correspondents along the Southern border, and they've both told my audience exactly the same thing: In their combined years of covering immigration, especially during the current Biden-caused crisis, they've witnessed and reported on a lot -- but it's never been anywhere near this bad. Bill Melugin and Griff Jenkins describe what they see on a daily basis, and what Fox's overhead drones have captured. That's not anecdote-driven or narrative-driven reporting either because the data reaffirm what they're seeing and experiencing.
Here's Melugin telling me, "I’ve been doing this for two years straight now. This is the worst I’ve ever seen it,” with the receipts to back that assertion up:
“I’m sitting here in Brownsville looking out my window right now, guy. And it is -- when I say it is nonstop. I don’t mean that as a figure of speech. It is literally nonstop. There is a dirt levee where there is just a constant line of people. It’s almost like they’re waiting in line at Disneyland to go on a ride. The line looks that long, just waiting to be processed. And it’s constantly being replenished with people crossing illegally. I’ve been doing this for two years straight now. This is the worst I’ve ever seen it.”
Days earlier, Griff Jenkins -- who has been covering immigration issues from the front lines for many years -- offered a strikingly similar assessment:
What I’m seeing now...is something I’ve never seen before in my life. Guy, we are seeing numbers that are up to record levels. And the first I looked for my CBP sources, looked at the official database of CBP, the computer they look at, and I could see the data. More than 32,000 migrant encounters in just the first four days of May. So you do the math. That’s well over 8000 [encounters per day]. 8000 is the number. That’s about where we were hovering when we were breaking those records last year. We’re on pace this year To see even more.”
As we so often mention, the encounters are one thing. The 'got-aways' are another. The latter group is aided and abetted by border officials being overwhelmed and surging resources to help with the processing of an endless stream of illegal immigrants who want to get detained (and, in so many cases, released into the United States, pending a court date far in the future). With fewer officers actually patrolling the national boundary, it's far easier for the cartels to move more dangerous people (who pay a premium) across, in addition to drugs and weapons. No one is minding the store because they've all been ordered to help with the paperwork elsewhere. And that's why we are seeing staggering numbers like this:
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19,000 got-aways in ONE WEEK https://t.co/dUj5kdSo7P
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) May 8, 2023
It's going to get worse, too:
#BREAKING CBP custody is exceeding 25,000 according to sources—Possibly the highest they have seen.
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) May 8, 2023
The Yuma Sector is currently surpassing 213%. Sources tell me the sector put a new “massive” processing tent that should help with the influx.
Agents tell me when migrant… pic.twitter.com/3wQhJZFuDE
When the pandemic-inspired restrictions end, border officials will resume an immigration system that has largely failed for decades, but with the added pressure of three years of pent-up demand. About 35,000 migrants are amassed in Ciudad Juárez, another 15,000 in Tijuana and thousands more elsewhere on the Mexican side of the 2,000-mile-long border...No one is certain what will happen after Thursday. The federal government is expecting as many as 13,000 migrants each day immediately after the measure expires, up from about 6,000 on a typical day. But asked what is likely to happen, one official posted along the border told reporters, “I have no idea” and said of a possible surge: “I think it’s already here.”
Melugin told me that the 1,500 troops deployed to the border by the Biden administration will not interact with migrants. They're not down there for border control, deterrence, or assisting in enforcement. They're bodies to help with processing. DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas keeps regurgitating the talking point that the border is not open. Well over six million illegal immigrants have entered the US since Joe Biden took office in 2021. Six million. That's more than six times the population of Biden's home state. The numbers speak for themselves and the timing of the explosion of the problem is the opposite of a coincidence:
The border crisis has been a nightmare since Jan 2021 (not a coincidence) and the administration's refusal to take action ensures that it will continue. Things will get worse after the end of Title 42 expulsions next week. Especially if the admin won't enforce their own rules. pic.twitter.com/hSegUq1R9P
— AG (@AGHamilton29) May 7, 2023
The reference to not enforcing their own rules may relate to denials like this, which contradict on-the-ground reporting:
TX: I asked DHS Secretary Mayorkas why single adult males (traveling without family members) from Venezuela with no family here in the U.S. that entered the country between ports of entry without a CBP One app appointment or the proper documentation were not being removed under… pic.twitter.com/dxqOCSx36S
— Ali Bradley (@AliBradleyTV) May 5, 2023
The coming days are going to bring about an unmitigated debacle. Republicans are likely to pass a tough border enforcement bill out of the House, but it will be dead in the Senate and at this White House (Biden has already threatened a veto). One of the few things that might change is a sense of urgency among some Democrats as the visuals become so bad that they feel political pressure to actually do something to address the problem. And if you aren't already, you should be following Julio's reporting from the border, especially as this crisis kicks into a higher gear than ever before:
On the ground in El Paso for @townhallcom and this is a small sample of the giant migrant camp in the downtown area. The size and conditions are much worse than when I was here covering the surge/camp in December. pic.twitter.com/OEbZM2Ex1w
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) May 5, 2023
