Arizona border's open floodgates allow thousands into US
By: Mary Ann Martinez (New York Post)
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
By MaryAnn Martinez
The door to America is wide open.
Thousands of migrants are flowing across the US border in Arizona every day — literally through open floodgates that have made the Tucson post the busiest point of illegal entry into the country, The Post has learned.
US officials have inexplicably welded open 114 massive gates along the Arizona border to allow water to flow freely during the annual monsoon season and for the migration of an endangered species of antelope, officials said.
But the move is also letting an average of 1,400 migrants from as far away as China casually walk into the country daily — with overwhelmed and outnumbered border agents practically helpless to stop them.
"We thought the agents were going to tell us something," one Ecuadorean migrant said. "But we just walked in."
Said another from Cuba: "It was so easy to get into the US.
"Nothing like our journey through Mexico. That part was hard," she added. "I thought there was going to be more security."
Migrants run through wide-open monsoon gates at the border wall near Lukeville, AZ.James Breeden/Shutterstock for NY Post Gatherings of migrants pass through the open gates.James Breeden/Shutterstock for NY Post Last month, more than 42,000 migrants crossed the US border in Arizona illegally through 114 floodgates that federal officials welded open nearly two months ago. The state is now the busiest illegal crossing point into the US.James Breeden/Shutterstock for NY Post A flood of migrants have streamed into the US at the Mexican border in Arizona, thanks to 114 massive gates that were welded open by federal officials. The Grand Canyon State is now the busiest illegal entry point at the border. James Breeden/Shutterstock for NY Post
Video taken by The Post shows a group of around 50 migrants strolling through the opened gates and into the US in a matter of seconds, with nobody stopping or questioning them.
Smugglers are capitalizing on the floodgate blunder, driving migrants by the busload to the border and dropping them off as if they were casual tourists. Once across, they turn themselves in to border agents and say they are seeking asylum.
Border Patrol agents call them "give-ups."
Last month, 42,561 migrants were encountered at the Tuscon border post, a huge jump over the June number of 27,294. Tuscon now tops traditionally busier border spots at El Paso and Laredo in Texas, where 24,352 and 26,627 border crossings, respectively, were reported in July.
A large metal pin, used to hold the gates open, has been welded to the gate so that it cannot be closed.James Breeden/Shutterstock for NY Post
"We haven't seen this many migrants since about 2008," said Adam Isacson, director for defense oversight at the advocacy group Washington Office on Latin America. "With the end of Title 42, in a way that nobody oversaw, it seems to come back to Tucson.
"What you're seeing is a lot of large groups who want to turn themselves in," Isacson said. "Tucson has also traditionally been where smugglers concentrate Mexicans and Central Americans who don't want to be detected. Now they're seeing 100 people at a time who are not running away.
"It's really becoming an epicenter," he said. "This is big."
Each of the 114 gates in Arizona, which have been open for nearly two months, has 12-foot doors wide enough for a motorcycle to drive through. Smugglers drive busloads of migrants to the Mexican side of the border, where they get off and simply walk into the US.
Border Patrol sources said the call to open the gates came from several federal agencies, including the National Park Service.
But because the monsoon season started late this year, they remained open for weeks before there was any rain — allowing migrants a dry path into the US.
"We tried to shut the gates but the order came down that we had to leave them open," one source said. "You wouldn't leave the front door of your house open in a bad neighborhood."
The gates run along a 36-mile stretch near Lukeville, Arizona.
In a statement to The Post, Customs and Border Protection said: "The individuals had already crossed the border from Mexico, are on U.S. soil, and are subject to U.S. immigration laws. Individuals who cross unlawfully will be subject to the lawful pathways rule, which places common-sense conditions on asylum eligibility, with certain exceptions. Those who do not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States will be removed."
Unlike the largely South American migrants who have been nabbed crossing into Texas, the immigrants coming to Arizona are from throughout the globe, including India, Egypt and China.
And unlike many South American migrants, who are typically disheveled, exhausted and weary from a long and treacherous trek across the barren land, the migrants at Tuscon look more like vacation travelers.
Understaffed border agents can do little to stop the flood.
Federal officials have welded open 114 floodgates along a 36-mile stretch of the US border in Arizona to accommodate annual monsoon flooding and an endangered species of antelope. Thousands of migrants have also been using them. James Breeden/Shutterstock for NY Post Federal officials said more than 42,000 migrants crossed into the US in Arizona in July, making it the busiest southern border crossing in the country. The problem? A 36-mile stretch of floodgates that were welded open. James Breeden/Shutterstock for NY Post Overwhelmed and overworked US Border Patrol agents are being bum-rushed at 114 floodgates at the southern border that were welded open nearly two months ago. The migrants immediately surrender and ask for asylum.James Breeden/Shutterstock for NY Post
"Three nights ago, a big group of migrants were on the Mexican side," one source said. "There were two agents on ATVs [all-terrain vehicles] and one line agent trying to stop them from entering. The agents blocked the gates with their quad [bikes]. The cartel guy just started pushing people.
"They rushed the agents. You had people climbing over quads. You had people pushing the agents. Not a single one got charged."
In response to questions about the open gates across her state from The Post, former Democrat Senator Kyrsten Sinema, who switched to being an independent politician last December, said: "Arizona communities bear the brunt of the federal government's failure on our border. The Administration must do more — border communities are stretched to their limits and they need increased support.
"I'm pressing for quick disbursement of federal resources to border communities, including local non-profits and first responders, so we can secure our border, keep Arizonans safe, and ensure the fair and humane treatment of migrants."
Border Patrol in the area have staffing issues. Agents from across the US were initially offered a $10,000 bonus to move to the remote town of Ajo, Arizona, to beef up the ranks.
Migrants from as far away as Egypt and China are strolling across the US border in Arizona by the thousands, after federal officials welded open 114 floodgates two months ago, with Border Patrol agents helpless to stop them. James Breeden/Shutterstock for NY Post
The bonus was upped to $20,000 when only a handful of trainees applied.
"Everything changed since [President Biden] took over," one source said. "This part of the border wall was built four years ago. Now we're just letting people through.
"Brutal," the source added. "No one wants to do this. They [the migrants] commit a federal crime, we charge them, they don't get convicted. They don't get sent back. They get a credible fear interview, they get an [asylum] court date years from now.
"We never hear anything more than that. The administration is not going to help us."
Migrants walk along the Arizona side of the border wall after passing through open gates.James Breeden/Shutterstock for NY Post
Meanwhile Brandon Judd, President of the National Border Patrol Council, said the way in which the open gates were so quickly exploited is a sure sign of cartel influence.
He told The Post: "Anytime you leave a spillway or a gate opened, the vast majority of people are not going to know it's open and they're not going to have the means to get there really, really quickly. Because the cartels are constantly surveilling what we do, the moment something gets left open, it gets exploited.
"In this particular case, it exploded almost immediately, which shows you how adept the criminal cartels are at exploiting any weakness at any time that we show them.
Open floodgates at Arizona border allow thousands of migrants to walk into the country.James Breeden/Shutterstock for NY Post
"The cartels know that all you have to do is cross the border illegally, claim asylum. If you're with a family unit, if you're from certain specific countries, if you meet those loopholes that go outside what Secretary Mayorkas has announced, then you're going to get released and that's what we're seeing right now."
"Every one of us [Border Patrol agents], we're all left scratching our head on why an administration would allow this to happen.
"We're seeing more and more that this President doesn't care about what's best for the country. He cares about what's best for his re-election."
No Trump, no fascist BS, relevant memes only.
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What in the holy hell?????
Nothing like manufacturing a problem.
More like ignoring and aiding and abetting....................
For these idiots in the Biden dumpster fire and those that support said dumpster fire - there is no problem.
Where's the enviro-freaks? This amount of human traffic will disrupt animal migration push endangered species closer to extinction.
Oh, wait, all this liberal crap is really about permissive bigotry against white people of European ancestry. The liberal crap really doesn't have anything to do with the environment or equity or justice. It's all about stickin' it to the white man.
Hey, it's your country now. Just don't park your Kia in Chicago. Good luck, you're definitely gonna need it.
Yep, send them all back to their murdering gangs to the south and to Africa where they came from and China cause we don't need to build more railroads. Then send all the native Americans up to Canada. We don't want any black, brown, red or yellow people in our immaculate pristine white country. Rip that poem off the Statue of Liberty and point it around to face us good people. Wait a second, who's going to pick fruit and wash dishes and be domestics and high skyscraper steelworkers? Who's going to cook the Chinese food? (Do I REALLY need to post a /s?)
You forgot the "/S" Buzz - and, believe me, there are a lot of Native Americans who would never go to Canada
LOL did you notice what I added right after I posted (and before I saw your comment)? What's wrong with Canada - too cold for you? For the past little while it has obviously been too hot and smokey.
Neither would a lot of Mexicans. Gets too cold up there.
Well, it's been said that Canada has four seasons: winter, winter, winter and construction.
Customs and Border Protection said: "The individuals had already crossed the border from Mexico, are on U.S. soil, and are subject to U.S. immigration laws.
Having difficulty trying to figure out how an Illegal Alien, who has not passed through a port of access, is not captured and returned to his port of origin within the 24 hours allocated by the "Immigration Law"?
Check this one out. Killed one, injured another 26.............kids headed for their first day of school.
Sadly Jim, there are many instances that are not in the main stream news dealing with Illegal Aliens and the pain and suffering they are causing on U.S. Citizens and others.
In September, the Justice Department began to prioritize immigration cases for family units “with the goal of completing these cases within a year of initiation,” a DHS official told us. This fast-track initiative is sometimes called the “rocket docket.”
When Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) challenged these numbers at the June 11 hearing, McAleenan said, “I gave you the recent numbers of over 7,000 families that we put through a process to try to get court results more quickly: 90 percent of them did not show up for their hearings.”
Ed-Doc and I both live either on or very near the border and we can attest to the fact that there are many, many Illegal Aliens who just walk across and disappear - not to mention the government's policy of logging them apprehended in and then releasing them on the their own cognizance.
It's getting worse. In another story today, it is reported that an ISIS supporter is a coyote and has smuggled in quite a few (100+) "Asylum Seekers" from the Middle East. Wonder what that tells us????
Yep. I get them running the alley behind my house on a almost nightly basis. My home security system is a large female black lab who hates strangers and barks loudly when they are there. My neighbors get illegals in their yards at times. I do not.
The number of people attempting to cross the southern border is getting geometrically worse. It doubled from 2018 to 2019, then COVID knocked it back. Then it doubled from 2019 to 2021 and there was a massive increase over 2021 in 2022. We need a rewritten set of laws. The people attempting to stop this cannot possibly keep up. Look at the following two charts. The number of crossings tripled from 2019 to 2022. We would need 3 times as many agents. Unless we remove the incentive we're doomed.
I have neighbors who are Border Patrol agents that tell me it is estimated that at least around 30% are never apprehended and just disappear into the woodwork of the US.
Live in a neighborhood with 14 CBP officers/families - and the stories they could tell - wow.
We try to stop the flow of illegal drugs into the US, but there is tremendous demand here. In spite of all our efforts, illegal drugs are cheap and plentiful. So, even if we built something like the Great Wall of China, there are lots of other ways to get in.
I think the Reagan Administration had the right idea, but fell short. They offered a general amnesty and path to citizenship for upstanding, contributing illegals and militarized the boarder. But they didn't reduce the demand because there was and is little incentive for businesses to avoid hiring illegals. I realize this is a view from 10 miles up, but what we're doing isn't cutting it, and it doesn't look like we could ever staff up border patrol enough. We need a way to make it a dead end move to enter illegally -- like there would be no job, but we also need to avoid destroying large sectors of the economy.
For what? It's not like those crossing the border illegally give a rats ass about the law. We don't need to rewrite the law. We need to enforce what laws are existing.
You're being silly. First of all, we need laws that would apply to businesses making it very painful to hire illegals. Secondly, we need a radically revamped asylum system; the system was never meant to handle the current load. But, as I said in 8.1.2 above, because illegals are a big part of the economy we need to avoid causing a recession. It's hard.
Try reading TITLE 8 USC—ALIENS AND NATIONALITY, 1324a Unlawful Employment of Aliens -
Failure to comply is -
Title 8 U.S.C. § 1324a(a)(1)(A) makes it unlawful for any person or other entity to hire, recruit, or refer for a fee, for employment in the United States an alien knowing the alien is an unauthorized alien, as defined in subsection 1324a(h)(3).
Subsection 1324a(2) makes it unlawful for any person or entity, after hiring an alien for employment, to continue to employ the alien in the United States knowing the alien is or has become an unauthorized alien with respect to such employment.
Subsection 1324a(f) provides that any person or entity that engages in a "pattern or practice" of violations of subsection (a)(1)(A) or (a)(2) shall be fined not more than $3000 for each unauthorized alien with respect to whom such a violation occurs, imprisoned for not more than six months for the entire pattern or practice, or both. The legislative history indicates that "a pattern or practice" of violations is to be given a commonsense rather than overly technical meaning, and must evidence regular, repeated and intentional activities, but does not include isolated, sporadic or accidental acts. H.R.Rep. No. 99-682, Part 3, 99th Cong., 2d Sess. (1986), p. 59. See 8 C.F.R. § 274a.1(k).A scheme for civil enforcement of the requirements of § 1324a through injunctions and monetary penalties is set forth in § 1324a(e) and § 1324a(f)(2).
In addition, 18 U.S.C. § 1546(b) makes it a felony offense to use a false identification document, or misuse a real one, for the purpose of satisfying the employment verification provisions in 8 U.S.C. § 1324a(b).
The laws are there, but they are rarely enforced.
Bingo!
Unfortunately, there are people who don't know about these laws. I have several in my own family.
As I've said before, enforcement would likely result in something as bad as the Great Recession, and that's why this is useless by itself and not done. Georgia, one of the Carolina's, and Arizona have tried draconian immigration solutions that enforced what you posted. What that did was wipe out a huge number of family farms, because they couldn't survive a one year total loss. It needs to be redone to allow for some type of amnesty along Reagan's lines. People have long known that we need thoughtful immigration policies:
We need to "confront the realities of a growing illegal population." We've done great things in the past, we could fix this too, but all I see is angry bullshit.
You may want to read 8.2.2 over and over. This way you won't make uneducated statements like you did.
Head meet made nail. Well said!
I'm just curious, do you live anywhere near the Southwestern border?
I ran a computer consulting firm and had to comply with it. I had to verify that people I hired were allowed to work in the US. But these were people making $100-150 thousand/year. No one was paid in cash, and citizens, if I could find them, would do the jobs. For someone in my position the law was a minor inconvenience. No one with advanced comp-sci degree needed to sneak across the border. People would ask me to sponsor them in exchange for lower pay during the sponsor period. There are easy to use mechanisms to get foreign help for people in my position. There was plenty of money to pay the overhead involved.
None of that is the case for people employed at the low end. I pointed out that blindly applying that law causes more damage that is corrects, that's why it's largely ignored in many sectors of the economy. I even pointed out that it's been tried and it did a lot of damage. Georgia tried using probationers to fill in for the illegals they drove out, most walked off the job on day 2. Fruits/vegetables were left to rot. There are jobs that citizens simply won't do, they pretty much always have better options.
It's a cop-out to point to a law and say we already have what we need. This is the same cop-out conservatives use to block attempts to mitigate gun violence. Even viewed from Pluto, the reality is that what we're doing doesn't work in either case. The sad truth is that we are incredibly resourceful and could solve these problems. But we won't, apparently it's more satisfying to fling insults and blame others.
All that and you still made a stupid comment like "rewrite the laws".
What's pathetic is:
They said Ducey "violated federal law"? What kind of bullshit is that? The very administration IGNORING the requirements to secure the border claim the former Governor "violated federal law"?
Such bullshit. The Governor violated federal law?? How about the feds enforce their damned laws?
"How about the feds enforce their damned laws?"
Now that is definitely asking a lot.
Reality is, Ducey actually enforced the federal laws far more than the Biden Dumpster Fire.
As a Arizona resident, I say amen to that as Biden just does not give rat's behind about those of us on the border. The same can be said about Mark Kelley. With all that is going on, he has remained pretty much silent on border issues.
Mark is still in space.
Just got word that my granddaughter's middle school has been placed on lockdown after a truckload of about six or so illegals were pulled over by the Border Patrol in front of the school. There was only one agent and all the occupants of the truck ran for it. All were wearing camouflage clothing and at least one jumped the fence gaining access to the school grounds. The rest headed off into the surrounding residential neighborhood. My granddaughter texted me that she was safely locked into the school cafeteria.
Now I would really like to see some of the "they're just here . . . .BS" to explain what just happened Ed.
You and I go through this constantly and are still doubted and told to "rewrite the laws".
BS - ENFORCE THE FRIGGIN' LAWS - damn worthless politicians.
Glad she's OK Ed.
Amen. And my thanks.