Border Patrol

Hundreds of Chinese migrants detained at US border amid coronavirus-tied travel ban

Since officials first reported the coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan in late December and the United States imposed a travel ban for those entering from China, Border Patrol agents have detained 333 Chinese nationals attempting to enter the United States illegally, according to Department of Homeland Security data. While none have tested positive for the virus, the southern border remains a primary focus of the Trump administration, which sees the area as high risk and a gateway for COVID-19 to spread in the U.S. “We have a unique public health threat posed by individuals arriving unlawfully at the border, where migrants, law enforcement officials, frontline personnel, and the American public are put at risk,” said a DHS official who asked to remain anonymous because he was not authorized to speak publicly by the agency. Under MPP, which stands for the Migrant Protection Protocol, the U.S. has deported some 60,000 migrants to Mexico to await their deportation hearings. Unless the Supreme Court acts, the policy will be ruled illegal in California and Arizona and those individuals and other migrants claiming asylum will be allowed to remain in the U.S. indefinitely. “All it would take is a single infected individual to impact the detained migrant community within DHS facilities without proper precautions, which can only happen through orderly, lawful migration, the virus threatens to spread rapidly,” the official said. “Any halting of MPP would exacerbate this threat.” The U.S. southern border is a microcosm of the world, with foreign nationals from 122 separate countries apprehended or denied entry already this fiscal year — from October through the end of February. Seventy of those countries currently report confirmed COVID-19 cases, led by China but followed by Italy, Iran, India, Romania, Vietnam and Brazil. The virus started popping up on health officials’ radar screens in late December in China and has since spread around the world. Some of the countries on the list have had very low rates of the virus, including Mexico. Meanwhile, the number of cases in the U.S. has risen dramatically in recent days, topping 1,000. China has nearly 81,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, Italy has more than 10,000 and Iran has about 8,000. Last week the Border Patrol asked the CDC to take over testing of those migrants who show symptoms consistent with COVID-19. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also runs 16 detention facilities with airborne infection isolation rooms. So far, it tested 4 migrants, all coming back negative. “It’s absolutely a risk that we’re monitoring and we’re evaluating,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan said..

Major kudos to our Border Patrol for all their hard work.  They get beat up daily by the dominantly liberal mainstream media and Democrat politicians who  attack these agents for doing the jobs they were hired to do; protect us.  And with this latest challenge, they’re doing phenomenal work given their limited resources.

Supreme Court rules for Border Patrol agent in suit filed by Mexican family over cross-border shooting

A divided Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in favor of a Border Patrol agent who faced a lawsuit from parents of a Mexican child he killed in a June 2010 cross-border shooting. Jesus Mesa Jr. and the parents of 15-year-old Sergio Adrián Hernández Güereca gave different accounts of what happened, with the parents claiming the teen and his friends were playing a game where they ran back and forth across the border, and Mesa claiming they threw rocks at him during an illegal border-crossing attempt. The Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling said that regardless of the circumstances, precedent regarding lawsuits against officers, known as “Bivens claims,” does not apply to cross-border shootings. “As we have made clear in many prior cases,” Justice Samuel Alito wrote in his opinion, “the Constitution’s separation of powers requires us to exercise caution before extending Bivens to a new ‘context,’ and a claim based on a cross-border shooting arises in a context that is markedly new.” In the 1971 opinion Bivens v. Six Unknown Fed. Narcotics Agents, the Supreme Court held that a person claiming they were unlawfully arrested and searched could bring a lawsuit under the Fourth Amendment, even if there was no statutory basis for it. In Tuesday’s opinion, Alito noted the high standard of extending Bivens to a “new context” and gave several reasons why it was inappropriate in this case. The first factor was the impact a lawsuit in such a case could have on foreign relations. “A cross-border shooting is by definition an international incident; it involves an event that occurs simultaneously in two countries and affects both countries’ interests,” Alito wrote. “Such an incident may lead to a disagreement between those countries, as happened in this case.” The U.S. had determined that Mesa should not face criminal charges or be extradited to Mexico. “To avoid upsetting the delicate web of international relations, we typically presume that even congressionally crafted causes of action do not apply outside our borders,” the opinion said. “These concerns are only heightened when judges are asked to fashion constitutional remedies. Congress, which has authority in the field of foreign affairs, has chosen not to create liability in similar statutes, leaving the resolution of extraterritorial claims brought by foreign nationals to executive officials and the diplomatic process.” Alito also pointed to concerns with the court getting involved with matters of national security. “Since regulating the conduct of agents at the border unquestionably has national security implications, the risk of undermining border security provides reason to hesitate before extending Bivens into this field,” he said. The court also pointed to Congress’ history of not awarding damages in cases against federal officials where the injuries took place outside the U.S. While Mesa was on American soil at the time, Hernández was on the Mexican side of the border when Mesa shot him. In a concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas asserted that “the time has come to consider discarding the Bivens doctrine altogether,” noting that the court “has consistently refused to extend the Bivens doctrine for nearly 40 years, even going so far as to suggest that Bivens and its progeny were wrongly decided.”

Even though a split decision, it was the right one.

Greyhound to stop allowing Border Patrol agents to conduct immigration checks on buses without warrant

Greyhound said Friday it would prohibit U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents without a warrant from boarding its buses to conduct immigration checks as bus companies continue to face pressure from civil rights advocates over the practice. The announcement comes after an Associated Press report said a Jan. 28 Border Patrol memo contradicted Greyhound’s stance that it had to allow the agents on its buses under federal law. The company has maintained it didn’t agree with the checks but had no choice but to comply. The memo addressed to all chief patrol agents and signed by then-Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost before her retirement said agents can’t board private buses without consent from bus companies. “When transportation checks occur on a bus at non-checkpoint locations, the agent must demonstrate that he or she gained access to the bus with the consent of the company’s owner or one of the company’s employees,” the memo states. Border agents regularly climb onto buses within 100 miles of the border to ask passengers about their immigration status. Some have been captured on video, prompting outrage from immigration advocate groups. Civil rights organizations argue the checks are discriminatory and that passengers are routinely profiled under the Trump administration. Greyhound faces a lawsuit in California over the checks, which some claim violate consumer protection laws. The company said it would provide training to its drivers and bus station employees about the new policy, along with stickers to be placed on buses saying it does not consent to searches.

Just crazy..  More political correctness that puts all of us at risk.  When you get on an airline, you have to show an ID and prove who you are, and they ask all sorts of security questions when you check in.  How is this any different?  It’s not.  It’s just that it has, for a long time, happened more so near the border for very obvious, common sense, reasons.  But, now Greyhound is more worried about offending illegal aliens (and their lawyers), who shouldn’t be here in the first place, than it is worried about the safety of the rest of us.  Unreal…

Trump Admin to Send Border Patrol Special Ops on Raids in Sanctuary Cities

The Trump administration is sending officers from a special operations unit of the Border Patrol to assist in raids by Immigration Customs and Enforcement in so-called sanctuary cities. The officers from BORTAC, the Border Patrol’s version of a SWAT unit, will deploy to New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and various other cities whose local governments forbid law enforcement from working with federal immigration officials, the New York Times reported on Friday. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Lawrence Payne confirmed the initiative. BORTAC officers will be deployed “in order to enhance the integrity of the immigration system, protect public safety, and strengthen our national security,” Payne said. “As we have noted for years, in jurisdictions where we are not allowed to assume custody of aliens from jails, our officers are forced to make at-large arrests of criminal aliens who have been released into communities,” ICE acting director Matthew T. Albence said in a statement. “When sanctuary cities release these criminals back to the street, it increases the occurrence of preventable crimes, and more importantly, preventable victims.” BORTAC usually operates in hot, rugged areas along the U.S.-Mexico border and specializes in capturing criminals and cracking down on smuggling operations. While embedded with ICE in sanctuary cities, BORTAC officers will engage in more run-of-the-mill arrests. The news comes after Attorney General William Barr announced Monday that the Justice Department would begin a “significant escalation” against sanctuary cities. Barr said the department would move to file lawsuits against sanctuary cities and locales that actively impede federal immigration enforcement.

Robert Perez: Combating distribution of counterfeit goods an ‘important effort’

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) push to crack down on the distribution of counterfeit goods under the Trump administration is “a very important effort,” CBP Deputy Commissioner Robert Perez said Saturday. Appearing on “Fox & Friends: Weekend” with host Griff Jenkins, Perez said that success in combatting the distribution and smuggling of these goods is a “direct result of the president’s last memorandum from last April directing the DHS to really put forth an action plan to directly impact the trafficking of illicit counterfeit items.” In his April 2019 memorandum, President Trump pledged to rein in the sale of counterfeit products on sites such as Amazon, eBay and Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba. With the ever-increasing rise of e-commerce, the White House on Friday declared it would step up efforts once more. U.S. Customs and Border Patrol would subject online retailers and warehouse operators to increased scrutiny and potential penalties under measures announced by DHS’s acting secretary Chad Wolf. Additionally, the department vowed to apply fines and penalties to a broader range of participants in e-commerce and look for additional ways to interfere with fraudulent commerce. Within the last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have seized more than 27,000 shipments of counterfeit goods with intellectual property right enforcement violations worth more than $1.5 billion in their efforts to combat the border crisis. “That’s $1.5 billion of lost potential revenue for the actual trademark holders and American businesses who hold these trademarks, and $1.5 billion of less-than-optimal commodities purchased by consumers oftentimes presenting health and safety risks to the purchasers here in the American public,” he explained to Jenkins. “So, that is what we’re combatting,” Perez added.

Kudos to the CBP and other law enforcement agencies working this issue!

Mexican troops disarmed American soldiers on US side of the border

Armed Mexican troops disarmed two United States soldiers while they were on the American side of the border, U.S. defense officials have said. U.S. Northern Command said in a statement that “five to six Mexican military personnel questioned two U.S. Army soldiers who were conducting border support operations” this month. The U.S. soldiers were in an unmarked Customs and Border Protection [CBP] vehicle near the southwest border near Clint, Texas. Officials confirmed that the Mexican troops were armed with what seemed to be rifles. They raised their weapons when they saw the two U.S. soldiers, and then took a pistol from one and put it in the CBP vehicle. According to officials talking to CNN, the two Americans obliged “in an attempt to de-escalate a potential volatile situation.” “Throughout the incident, the U.S. soldiers followed all established procedures and protocols,” the statement said. The two U.S. troops were on the south side of the security perimeter but north of the Rio Grande and thus were in the U.S., according side American territory, it added. Pentagon and Department of Homeland Security officials demanded an explanation from the Mexican government. “An inquiry by CBP and DOD [Department of Defense] revealed that the Mexican military members believed that the US Army soldiers were south of the border,” the statement said. “Though they were south of the border fence, U.S. soldiers remained in U.S. territory, north of the actual border.”

Soo..  Is an official apology forthcoming from the Mexican government for this outrageous invasion onto our side, and the confrontation with our American soldiers?  Our politicians need to demand that official apology now!  Call, or email, your member of Congress and both of your U.S. Senators and demand that they secure that apology.  Major kudos to our troops who handled that with such class and professionalism.  They are a credit to their uniforms.  They could easily have turned the tables, and ended that nonsense real quick in a way that would have ended very differently.  Mexican troops make, on average, a couple hundred incursions onto U.S. soil each ear.  And, sometimes, they fire on U.S. Border Patrol agents, etc.  Yeah…  You read that correctly.  So, this is hardly an isolated incident.  That’s why our politicians need to really push back on the Mexican government.  If anything, it’s just another reason why we need to BUILD THE WALL NOW!!!..and put armed U.S. Army National Guard troops physically ON the border with Mexico to prevent would-be crossers from setting on foot on U.S. soil…as well as to deter these sorts of incursions onto our side by Mexican troops.

Border Patrol Arrests Previously Deported Child Rapist 75 Miles into Texas

Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents arrested a previously deported child rapist in a town located about 75 miles north of the Texas-Mexico border. Immigration officers deported the convicted sex offender in 2018. Agents assigned to the Rocksprings Border Patrol Station arrested a 26-year-old man they determined had illegally entered the U.S. The agents transported the subject to the station in Rocksprings, Texas, where they conducted a biometric background investigation. The investigation revealed that a court in Seattle, Washington, convicted the Mexican national in 2011 for rape of a child. Despite an extensive criminal history, the court in Seattle sentenced the criminal alien to only one year in state prison. Immigration officers removed the violent sex offender in 2018, according to information obtained from Del Rio Sector Border Patrol officials. “Violent criminals continue to illegally cross the border to make their way further into the United States,” Del Rio Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Matthew J. Hudak said in a written statement. “Our agents are committed to preventing these types of criminals from entering and harming our communities.” Federal prosecutors in the Western District of Texas are expected to file felony charges for illegal re-entry after removal as a sex offender. If convicted under the 8 USC § 1326 charge, the illegal immigrant could face up to 20 years in federal prison. “All individuals arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol undergo record checks using biometrics to ensure those with criminal history or gang affiliation are positively identified,” Del Rio Sector officials stated.