State and federal law enforcement officials have indicated no change yet in the number of illegal border crossings since President Joe Biden’s latest executive action.
Lt. Chris Olivarez, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, stated that unlawful border crossings at three key ports of entry stayed at their previous levels one day after new restrictions to the asylum process.
“Unlawful border crossings between the ports of entry for Wednesday, 6/5, recorded 4,027 across the SW border, with Arizona recording 1,112 & San Diego 1,092,” Olivarez wrote Thursday morning on X.
“There should not be any threshold that would continue to encourage illegal immigrants to cross a dangerous river or desert to gain unlawful entry into the United States – the number should be ZERO,” he added.
Olivarez was quick to point out that Texas border crossings have remained down compared to other states. DPS has attributed this discrepancy to the success of Operation Lone Star, Texas’ border security operation.
News from DPS comes two days after the White House issued a fact sheet overviewing changes to its border policy by utilizing sections 212(f) and 215(a) of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
The temporary policy permits law enforcement to arrest and deport all foreign nationals who illegally cross the border but only takes effect when encounters exceed 2,500 per day for one week.
U.S. News & World Report reported, as of Tuesday at noon, the policy had already gone into effect because the threshold was met the previous week.
Still, Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin cited a U.S. Customs and Border Protection source which corroborated Olivarez’s statement that illegal crossings still exceeded the 2,500 threshold on Wednesday.
“Per CBP sources, Border Patrol apprehended just about 4,000 illegal immigrants yesterday, on par with the low 4,000s/mid to high 3,000s we’ve seen in recent weeks,” Melugin shared Thursday.
“Tucson & San Diego sectors were the top two yesterday, with roughly 1,100 illegal crossings each, not counting gotaways,” he elaborated.
Melugin noted that the CBP source attested to around 5,500 overall encounters on Wednesday, roughly 4,000 of which were illegal crossings and another 1,500 were encounters at ports of entry.
Gov. Greg Abbott has been vocally critical of Biden’s new executive action—commenting that it does “nothing to secure the border.”
The order “actually AUTHORIZES 2,500 aliens to cross illegally & provides an enticement that will attract even more illegal immigrants,” emphasized Abbott in a post on X. “He’s just trying to hoodwink Americans to think he’s taking action before the election.”
According to an explainer by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Biden’s order is in effect until two weeks after a weeklong average of fewer than 1,500 encounters between ports of entry.
If the policy is halted and the 2,500-per-day threshold is met over a week, the policy will go into effect again, barring new action by the administration.
During periods when the policy is in place, there are several exceptions, notably for individuals who face an acute medical emergency, an imminent and extreme threat to life or safety, or extreme cases of human trafficking.
In addition, the policy does not cover unaccompanied minors or aliens who enter the U.S. at designated ports of entry using the CBP One mobile app.
Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the federal government over the CBP app last year, claiming that it is a tool for the Biden administration to circumvent the law in order to process more illegal aliens.
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