After leading the agency since June 2023, U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens announced he would retire in April. Owens, appointed by President Biden as the 26th Chief of the United States Border Patrol, served the agency for nearly three decades.
Border Patrol agents arrested a group of Special Interest Aliens after they crossed the border from Mexico into Texas last week. The group included two Iranian nationals and two Egyptian migrants.
A multi-agency manhunt resulted in the arrest of a South African migrant and suspected terrorist in Brooklyn, New York. Texas Highway Patrol troopers initially detained the unidentified man in Texas in September 2024. He was arrested for criminal trespass as part of Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star and was turned over to federal immigration authorities for removal proceedings. Despite being identified by the state authorities as being the subject of an alert on the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database, federal authorities released the migrant to pursue an asylum claim.
More than 10,000 Special Interest Aliens were apprehended during the first two and one-half months of the new fiscal year. Special Interest Aliens come from countries with known ties to terrorism.
Nearly 20,000 migrants illegally crossed the border from Canada into the Swanton Border Patrol Sector. Officials report this is more than the prior 17 years combined.
As the Biden administration’s border crisis continues in record-shattering numbers, Border Patrol agents must also deal with migrant deaths and rescues. Thus far in December, agents recovered the bodies of 14 migrants who died while or shortly after crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. Another 240 migrants were rescued from life-threatening circumstances by Border Patrol agents, according to a Border Patrol report.
Border Patrol officials report that more than 18,000 migrants are known to have crossed the border without being apprehended during the first 16 days of FY24. During that same period, dozens of “Special Interest Aliens” from countries known to have ties to terrorism were apprehended. These two reports beg the question of just how many “Special Interest Aliens” are included in the gotaways.
An estimated 1,500 mostly Venezuelan migrants entered the small border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, during the late evening hours on Tuesday. The latest group of migrants to surrender to authorities brings the eight-day total of migrant crossings to more than 16,000. It took ten full days in September 2021 for 15,000 mostly Haitian migrants to ford the river during the infamous immigration surge in Del Rio.
Chief of the United States Border Patrol Jason Owens made a surprise visit to the small Texas border town of Eagle Pass, Texas. Media flocked to the city as Border Patrol encountered approximately 15,000 mostly Venezuelan migrants in the span of eight days.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents seized more than 120 pounds of cocaine on August 7 near the Texas border with Mexico. Officials estimate the value of the shipment at approximately $3.8 million.
Border Patrol agents report increasing rescues as the number of migrants crossing the U.S. border with Mexico increases. Officials cite soaring temperatures as a reason for the spike in rescues. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens tweeted photos from a
Municipal police in Mexico arrested an alleged human smuggler and 16 migrants after the group attempted to enter the United States by cutting through a border fence. The police found the group in a cloned U.S. Border Patrol pickup truck.
Miami Sector Border Patrol agents arrested a previously convicted narcotics trafficker near West Palm Beach, Florida, late last week. The migrant reportedly has ties to Mexican cartels and is illegally present in the U.S.
The death toll of migrants crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. during the past two weeks climbed over the weekend to 23. The news came in a tweet on Monday from the new chief of the Border Patrol.
Border Patrol agents recovered 13 deceased migrants in one week along what the United Nations has declared the deadliest land border in the world. The recoveries made by the agency were accompanied by 226 rescues of migrants suffering heat-related injuries from June 25 to July 1, according to Jason Owens, the recently named the 26th Chief of the United States Border Patrol.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents encountered an angry rattlesnake while escorting a group of migrants near the Texas border with Mexico. The snake and the migrant group eventually went their separate ways without further incident.
Agents in the Del Rio Border Patrol Sector reported that more than 6,000 migrants were apprehended or known to have crossed the border illegally and got away. During the month of March, agents apprehended a total of about 24,000 migrants and reported nearly 11,000 got-aways.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents found three tender-age children abandoned on remote ranchlands near the Texas border with Mexico. Elsewhere in Texas, Kingsville Station agents found a juvenile who was reported missing.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol officials report just over 10,000 known border crossers during a seven-day period ending on March 18. The known border crossers include more than 5,500 migrant apprehensions and 4,400 known got-aways.
Texas Department of Public Safety Special Operations Group and Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 50 migrants hiding in rail cars carrying vehicles. During the search, law enforcement officers found new Dodge trucks that “sustained varying degrees of damage” from the migrants.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol officials report that more than 10,000 migrants are known to have crossed the border from Mexico into Texas during the past week. The report includes more than 6,200 apprehensions and nearly 4,000 known got-aways.
More than 40 percent of last week’s known border crossers in the Del Rio Sector simply got away into the U.S. interior. Nearly 8,600 successfully avoided apprehension during the past two weeks, according to a Border Patrol official.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 11,000 migrants during the past week. In addition, another 3,200 got away without being arrested.
A single group consisting of more than 700 migrants crossed the Rio Grande into Eagle Pass, Texas, and quickly surrendered to authorities. The group of mostly Cuban migrants entered the United States shortly before dawn on Thursday and were arrested by Border Patrol agents just north of the city. According to a source within CBP, the group is the largest single group of migrants to surrender at Eagle Pass.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 10,000 migrants during the past week. Officials estimate more than 4,000 more got away without being apprehended.
Agents in the Del Rio Border Patrol Sector continue to apprehend increasing numbers of migrants with previous convictions and deportations for sexual offenses. Many of the criminal aliens have convictions for sex offenses against children.
Governor Greg Abbott’s busing of migrants to Chicago led officials from that city and the state of Illinois to visit the Texas border with Mexico. The officials described their visit to the overwhelmed Texas border sector as “eye-opening.”
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents arrested two more child sex offenders after they illegally re-entered the U.S. The apprehensions took place in less than 24 hours at two separate locations.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 10,000 migrants during the past week. Another estimated 6,000 migrants got away without being apprehended.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents arrested two sex offenders within a two-hour period on Monday after they illegally crossed into Texas.
Large groups of migrants continue to cross into the nation’s busiest border sector by the hundreds. Some groups contain 300-400 mostly single adults. Recent policy changes by the Biden Administration to return migrants to Mexico have had little impact on crossing numbers.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 10,000 migrants during the past week. Officials report another 3,344 migrants are known got-aways who escaped without being apprehended.
Del Rio Sector Marine Unit agents rescued four migrants struggling to stay afloat while illegally crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into Texas. The agents used safety equipment to pull the migrants from the swiftly moving river currents.
A Texas Department of Public Safety drone operator located a group of 37 migrants riding in an open-top rail car in Maverick County. The group included 36 adults and one minor.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents rescued 32 migrants from circumstances where human smugglers placed them in life-endangering situations. In one incident, smugglers packed migrants into the cargo area of a box truck. In another, they locked the migrants in an aut0-transport rail car.
Agents assigned to the five Texas-based Border Patrol sectors apprehended nearly 1.26 million migrants so far this fiscal year, federal reports indicate. This represents approximately 65 percent of all apprehensions along the U.S.-Mexico Border.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol officials report the apprehension of more than 3,300 migrants over the weekend. In addition, the report reveals another 733 migrants are classified as got-aways.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents moved quickly to rescue a group of five migrants who were struggling with the swiftly moving currents of the Rio Grande. One agent jumped into the water to save a woman having trouble staying afloat in the river that separates Texas and Mexico.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol officials say the increasing numbers of large migrant groups crossing from Mexico into Texas are straining their resources. On Thursday morning two more large groups with more than 800 migrants crossed the deadly Rio Grande into the United States.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 5,100 migrants over the Labor Day Weekend, according to information provided by a sector official. Of those, 2,395 crossed in ten large groups in an effort by Mexican cartels to tie up Border Patrol resources in the region.