CBP arrested Iranians in Arizona who jumped the U.S.-Mexico border
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released a statement announcing the arrest of eleven Iranians who illegally crossed over the U.S.-Mexico border Monday night. Border patrol agents noticed the group on a bridge near San Luis, Arizona. The group of five females and six males were taken to Yuma Station for processing. Iran is included on the list of Special Interest Countries.
Eleven illegal immigrants may not sound like a big problem but it does remind us that those attempting to enter the United States illegally don’t just come from Central American countries, they come from all over the world. The Yuma Sector arrests more Iranians than other border sectors. The press release from CBP notes that distinction.
Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents arrested a group of 11 Iranian citizens who illegally crossed the border into the United States Monday evening.
At approximately 6 p.m., BP agents encountered the group near San Luis, Arizona, on a bridge near County 21st Street and the Salinity Canal. Agents determined the group had illegally crossed the international border into the U.S. The group was arrested and taken to Yuma Station for processing. The five females and six males are were all from Iran, a Special Interest Country.
Yuma Sector agents regularly encounter people from all over the world, including Special Interest Countries. Agents adjudicate each arrest in accordance with law and policy in order to secure our nation’s borders.
For the last two fiscal years, Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents have led the nation in apprehending illegal crossers from Iran. Yuma Sector agents apprehended eight Iranian nationals in FY2020, compared to just 14 from all other border patrol sectors combined. So far in FY2021, Yuma Sector agents have apprehend 14 nationals from Iran.
Last June, border agents arrested three Iranian nationals in Del Rio, Texas – a man, woman, and child. The Biden administration is facing lawsuits from both Arizona and Texas against Biden’s recent executive orders and actions taken that affect border security. Texas was the first state to file a lawsuit against the Biden administration and it was over his 100-day freeze on deportations. A judge ruled in favor of Texas and put a stop to that order that lasts until the end of February. Arizona filed a lawsuit on February 3.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich filed a suit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Feb. 3 after the agency released a memo on Jan. 20 that imposed a 100-day moratorium on some deportations.
“The 100-Day Pause on Deportations includes those charged with or convicted of a crime,” Brnovich said on Twitter. “Law enforcement officials have told our office they are concerned about whether released individuals are being tested for COVID-19.” The suit asks the U.S. District Court in Arizona to rule that the policy violates federal law.
As the CBP reminds us, border security is national security. Status Quo Joe is busy trying to undo much of what the Trump administration put into place to secure the borders and work with other countries to handle the problems arising from mass migration toward the U.S.-Mexico border. Now that Biden is in office and proudly sending out the word that the open borders crowd is back in charge, Mexico has begun refusing to accept migrant families back into their custody. That’s probably just a coincidence, right? Right. It’s just common sense – why should Mexico continue to work with the United States if the new administration won’t pledge to continue to abide by current agreements with Central American countries and with Mexico?
Migrants have been trained to ask for asylum as soon as they are apprehended at the border. Joe Biden delivered a speech at the State Department yesterday and declared he is raising the cap on the number of refugees allowed into the U.S. Last year Trump set the cap at 15,000 per year and Biden is raising that number to 125,000 as of October 1. He plans to do so with an executive order. What he didn’t say is that he has to consult with Congress before acting on that.
“I’m approving an executive order to begin the hard work of restoring our refugee admissions program to help meet the unprecedented global need,” the president said in a speech at the State Department. “It’s going to take time to rebuild what has been so badly damaged.”
Biden’s idea of a badly damaged system differs from that of most Americans. Americans continue to support strong border security measures and Trump may not have spoken diplomatically about his opinions on immigration policy but he ended up garnering the respect of those he worked with and received their cooperation. That had not happened with previous administrations, either Republican or Democrat.
Border patrol agents have increased releasing asylum-seeking families into the U.S. since the Mexican authorities began refusing them in January. There is an increased influx since Biden was elected and there are still strict regulations due to the coronavirus pandemic which limits space in holding facilities along the border. This is also a result of Biden’s pledge to end the Remain in Mexico program that has been successfully employed by the United States and Mexico to relieve the overflow of migrants that overwhelm the border patrol officials and immigration judges at the border for processing.
“Per longstanding practice, when long-term holding solutions aren’t possible, some migrants will be processed for removal, provided a Notice to Appear, and released into the U.S. to await a future immigration hearing,” CBP said in a statement Thursday. CBP said the Biden administration will continue using what legal authorities it has to keep migrants out of crowded detention facilities during the pandemic.
Mexican immigration and foreign ministry officials said Mexico hasn’t ended its practice of accepting all returned migrants, but officials in some stretches of the border have made “adjustments” to accommodate a change in Mexico’s immigration law that bars officials from holding migrant children and their families in detention centers run by the immigration service. Those migrants must now be turned over to the DIF, Mexico’s social-service agency for children and families.
“The law says we can’t have minors in immigration centers, they must be taken to shelters run by the DIF, where they wait until their migratory status is defined,” said a spokeswoman for Mexico’s immigration agency.
It’s easy for a swampy politician to campaign on open borders and fuzzy, feel-good bromides to satisfy those who do not put a premium on sovereign borders. It’s quite another thing to deal with the mess that a lack of cohesive policy creates for those dealing with the crisis at the southern border. This problem is only just beginning and will get a lot worse during this uncertain time transitioning from the previous administration to the current one. It takes a lot more than Joe Biden’s signature on an executive order.
