Border Patrol Takes Drastic Action as Thousands of Immigrants Illegally Enter Tucson Daily

Border Patrol leadership in the Tucson region of Arizona is calling for “all hands on deck” to respond to an “unprecedented surge” of illegal immigrants, the Washington Examiner has learned.

Federal law enforcement agents in southeastern Arizona sounded the alarm in conversations with the Washington Examiner on Monday, disclosing that agents have been pulled from manning the highway checkpoints, canceled all training classes, and even diverted from desk jobs, such as posting updates on the organization’s local social media, a sign of how strained the agency has become responding to thousands crossing in just one part of the southern border each day.

“As you are aware, Tucson Sector is experiencing an unprecedented surge of illegal entries in our [area of responsibility],” Tucson leadership wrote in an email to agents this afternoon, according to a copy obtained by the Washington Examiner on Monday. “[T]his morning we had more than 5,000 people in custody – far more than our holding capacity.”

Since October, agents in Tucson have apprehended more than 100,000 people, including 15,650 immigrants, over the past seven days, the email stated. Tucson is one of nine regions across the 2,000-mile southern border.

“This surge poses immense challenges requiring an ‘all hands-on deck’ posture to staff vital positions with security, transportation, casework. and triage,” the email to staff stated. {snip}

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Tucson agents who were not authorized to speak with media but spoke anonymously and said the decision to pull agents from desk jobs came after pushback from agents.

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“It is very odd to stop a Sector detail but we are overburdened with bodies. There is no enforcement of immigration law,” said the second agent.

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