Twelve Border Patrol agents are the only federal law enforcement officers present along a 245-mile stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border surrounding Del Rio, Texas. It’s the lowest-ever number of agents on duty in the area, even as more migrants illegally cross here now than ever before.
The surge of illegal immigration is taking a significant toll because it has kept agents from carrying out their national security mission. Agents say they are physically drained and struggling to see beyond the crisis.
“Morale is in the toilet,” said Jon Anfinsen, a spokesman for the Border Patrol's union. "Morale is low because agents aren't allowed to do their job — if our job is to be out patrolling the border in between the ports of entry and actively searching for people who have crossed illegally, but we're not allowed to go do that job, it basically creates this defeated feeling in everyone."
“Morale is tanking fast. This can be seen in the simple statements made by agents, but even more importantly, it can be seen in increasing processing times. Agents are just flat tired, and we are seeing and hearing it,” a former senior official at U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the federal agency that oversees the Border Patrol, wrote in an email.
This isn’t the first crisis these agents have faced, but this one has taken a significant toll on personnel, according to Anfinsen, because agents are already “burned out and there’s really no end in sight.” --->READ MORE HERE
Raul Ortiz, who will assume the role of Chief of the United States Border Patrol later this month, spoke to Breitbart Texas on Wednesday as he begins a tour of the busiest sectors in the state. Chief Ortiz began in Del Rio by visiting the Border Patrol station and spoke with employees about the challenges facing the agency.
Ortiz, a native of Del Rio, spoke about the current migrant surge and the difficulties the Border Patrol is facing due to the unprecedented increase in illegal entries. Ortiz says the Del Rio Sector is now the second busiest in the nation.
The agency is dealing with a surge in illegal migration that has not showed signs of slowing over the summer months. Ortiz says more than 1,000 migrants on a daily average are being apprehended in Del Rio and nearly 3,000 on most days in the Rio Grande Valley.
Ortiz says the nationalities encountered, at least in the Del Rio Sector, are different than a little more than a year ago when he served as Del Rio Sector’s Chief Patrol Agent. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to related stories:
Video Shows Illegal Immigrants Running Freely Across Border After Border Patrol Is 'Pulled from Field'
Border Patrol agents come under fire from Mexico while arresting illegal immigrants
Arrests of Convicted Sex Offender Migrants by Border Patrol Jump 171 Percent in 2021
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