As the Biden administration’s border crisis continues and law enforcement is stretched thin, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has resorted to virtually processing illegal aliens.
Former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott told NTD News that “virtual processing is like a Zoom call or a Skype call. It’s basically leveraging CBP-Border Patrol personnel from around the whole country to help process people and to get them through the system.”
Scott explained that the illegal alien is sitting in front of a camera and an agent in another part of the country takes their biographical and biometric information. However, Scott highlighted that “Zoom calls aren’t the best for actually picking up on… body language and everything else.”
“This is a reminder to America that this is not a Southwest border problem,” said Scott. “This is a national security problem… Many of them will be released into the United States, they call home and the next wave comes. This is unsustainable, and a huge threat.”
Overwhelmed Border Patrol stations—including in Eagle Pass, Texas—suspended vehicle processing last week in order to allow more agents to process illegal aliens. Similarly, vehicle processing in Lukeville, Arizona, was reduced last week.
Eagle Pass is located in the Del Rio sector of the southwest border. During Fiscal Year 2023, the sector saw 393,226 encounters—14 times the population of Eagle Pass. Meanwhile, only one month into Fiscal Year 2024, the sector has already seen 38,211 encounters.
Lukeville has also faced immense numbers of illegal border crossers—with one human smuggler shrugging and saluting a Fox News camera on Tuesday after leading a group to a hole in the wall to enter the U.S.
“We are draining our law enforcement resources from CBP and border patrol from around the entire country to simply process people,” said Scott.
Fox News reported Wednesday that sources within CBP said there were more than 12,000 encounters at the southwest border on Tuesday—the highest single-day total ever recorded.
Texas is attempting to curtail illegal entry into the state with a new measure that creates a criminal offense for such entry. However, while the measure awaits the governor’s final approval, the American Civil Liberties Union has already promised to sue the state over the measure—meaning it could be tied up in litigation for years before it’s actually implemented.
Texas Scorecard reached out to CBP for comment on their decision to virtually process illegal aliens but did not receive a response before publication.
