National Guard Deployment Led to More Than 10,000 Arrests of Illegal Immigrants, Says CBP

The National Guard’s deployment to the southwest border in mid-April has led to 10,805 “deportable alien arrests” of people who illegally entered the United States from Mexico, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman said Monday.

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The National Guard’s presence also helped lead to the interception of more than 3,300 others who were turned back before they crossed into the U.S., CBP press secretary Corry Schiermeyer said in an email to the Washington Examiner. The Guard’s deployment has also led to an additional 11,686 pounds of marijuana being seized as a result of their work.

There are 1,601 National Guard troops at the border assisting with various surveillance, maintenance, and related operations. {snip}

Troops are providing support from the air, surveillance backup, and assistance with infrastructure projects like vegetation clearing and road maintenance, not including border wall construction. Another task is to specifically free up agents to leave their desks and get back out to the field. The troops monitoring remote video surveillance systems have then been able to report sightings to a greater field of agents, and thus the number of apprehensions has increased, officials said.

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