(TotalConservative.com) – The Tucson branch of the U.S. Border Patrol rounded up 10,000 migrants illegally crossing the southern border into Arizona the last week of July. Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin said that number was up 1,000 people from the week prior. According to border patrol, most of the migrants were single adult men, and activity along the Tucson side of the border had increased significantly in recent weeks.
Modlin tweeted that they also rescued 430 people from health threats due to severe heat, seized several pounds of methamphetamine and fentanyl, and stopped 21 incidents of attempted human smuggling.
Nogales authorities said they additionally seized $83,000 worth of fentanyl pills.
Modlin said that the migrants were dangerously underestimating the threat from heat exhaustion, dehydration, and making a desert crossing. It can take just minutes for the health impacts from the severe temperatures to affect individuals who often spend several hours outside in the scorching sun during their trek.
One of the rescued was a 45-year-old woman from Guatemala. She suffered a leg injury while crossing the Baboquivari Peak mountains and was rescued by Border patrolmen who carried her out by hand on a litter before she was flown to a hospital.
The border has seen increased migrant activity since the expiration of Title 42, a pandemic-era policy that allowed migrants to be turned back at the border if they were from specific countries.
Tucson Border Patrol detained almost 25,000 migrants in June. This brings the total for the year thus far to around 235,000 detentions, a marked increase of ~40,000 over last year’s numbers. Most of those were released into the surrounding communities with a court date months or years from now.
Former Democrat, now Independent, Arizona Senator Krysten Sinema has sponsored two bills to strengthen border security. They’ve ended up in the National Defense Authorization Act, the yearly omnibus bill ostensibly for defense spending but that generally acquires a lot of additional items that did not make it into law on their own steam. They would enhance security and offer additional resources for combating human trafficking and drug smuggling and specifically target the cartels involved in the operations.
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