The brand new US Border Patrol chief mentioned the variety of unlawful migrants stopped attempting to cross the besieged southern border has dropped an astonishing 90% since January 21 — a day after President Trump’s inauguration.
Michael Banks, a longtime former border agent himself, touted the plunge in unlawful crossings in an interview on Fox Information’ “Fox and Pals” Thursday, including that prosecutions of legal migrants the company has apprehended have additionally jumped 52%.
“US Border Patrol is aware of the right way to get the job finished, we all know the right way to safe the border. All we wanted was a president that was going to empower us — a robust chief like President Trump — and a secretary like Secretary Noem that is aware of precisely what we have to do to safe the border,” he mentioned.
Banks didn’t present the precise figures on unlawful border crossings or make clear what time interval he was evaluating the drop to, nevertheless, Border Patrol figures seen by The Publish present that the variety of migrants within the company’s custody has plummeted by greater than 500% for the reason that summer season.
US Customs and Border Patrol presently has roughly 1,500 unlawful immigrants in custody — a drop within the bucket in comparison with June when over 10,000 migrants have been locked up.
The staggering decline within the variety of migrants in custody is a direct results of the Trump administration’s dedication to ramped-up enforcement, the information reveals.
Banks, Texas’ former border czar, additionally dispelled misinformation that the company was cruelly concentrating on “abuelas” (grandmothers) and households as a substitute of hardened criminals.
“It’s simply nonsense. It’s rhetoric that we’re concentrating on … college buses and youngsters. It’s absurd. And if you wish to speak about abuelas, my abuela is a naturalized citizen from Mexico,” he mentioned.
“We’re definitely not concentrating on abuelas, we’re not concentrating on people who find themselves on this nation legally and don’t have the authority to go after somebody who’s on this nation legally,” he added.
“We’re concentrating on criminals, and people who have damaged the regulation by getting into the nation illegally.”
The numbers below Trump’s new enforcement regime converse for themselves.
Not solely have greater than 5,500 unlawful migrants needed for violent crimes been taken off the streets since Inauguration Day, however once-bustling border crossing hubs have slowed to a relative trickle.
This has been significantly pronounced in Texas. On Feb. 5, simply 396 unlawful crossings have been recorded throughout El Paso, Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, Del Rio and Huge Bend.
Del Rio alone was seeing hundreds of unlawful crossings per day below the Biden administration, together with a spike in September, 2021 when greater than 14,000 Haitian migrants appeared on the border over a matter of days.
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