Leaked Photos Show Children Packed in ‘Terrible Conditions’ in Border Patrol Facility

An overflow facility in Donna, Texas, in an undated photo. (Courtesy of Rep. Henry Cuellar's office)

Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) released several photos from an overflow tent facility in Donna, Texas, showing extremely crowded conditions as hundreds of illegal immigrants and minors pour across the border.

The photos show children sleeping on the floors along with makeshift beds.

Cuellar, whose office first shared the photos with Axios, told the news outlet that one “pod” held more than 400 unaccompanied male minors. The pods are supposed to hold a maximum of 260 people, he said.

The pods provide “terrible conditions for the children,” Cuellar added, saying these children should be moved to be housed and cared for by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Over the weekend, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas visited areas along the border, but his office restricted media access. A number of news outlets have said that their journalists and photographers have been denied access.

Cuellar told Axios that he didn’t visit the Donna facility himself, adding that the photos were provided to him as he attempts to raise awareness of the situation at the border.

Customs and Border Protection (CPB) agents are “doing the best they can under the circumstances” but are “not equipped to care for kids” and “need help from the administration,” he said. “We have to stop kids and families from making the dangerous trek across Mexico to come to the United States. We have to work with Mexico and Central American countries to have them apply for asylum in their countries.”

Epoch Times Photo
An overflow facility in Donna, Texas, in an undated photo. (Courtesy of Rep. Henry Cuellar’s office)
Epoch Times Photo
An overflow facility in Donna, Texas, in an undated photo. (Courtesy of Rep. Henry Cuellar’s office)
Epoch Times Photo
An overflow facility in Donna, Texas, in an undated photo. (Courtesy of Rep. Henry Cuellar’s office)
Epoch Times Photo
An overflow facility in Donna, Texas, in an undated photo. (Courtesy of Rep. Henry Cuellar’s office)

White House press secretary Jen Psaki responded to a question from a report about the photos.

“These photos show what we have long been saying, which is these border patrol facilities are not places made for children,” Psaki told reporters at the White House on Monday. “They are not places we want children to be staying for an extended period of time. Our alternative is to send children back on this treacherous journey. That is not in our view the right choice to make.”

“Children presenting themselves at our border who are fleeing violence, who are fleeing prosecution, terrible situations, is not a crisis,” she said in elaborating. “We feel it is our responsibility to humanely approach this circumstance.”

But over the past several weeks, Cuellar issued several warnings about the border crisis, saying that President Joe Biden’s administration needs to improve its messaging.

“You just can’t say, ‘Yeah, yeah, let everybody in’—because then we’re affected down there at the border,” he remarked, adding, “The bad guys know how to market this.” Cuellar’s district lies along the U.S.-Mexico border.

In a series of TV interviews on Sunday, Mayorkas fielded questions about how the White House is dealing with the surge along the border.

“We are expelling families. We are expelling single adults. And we’ve made a decision that we will not expel young, vulnerable children. I think we are executing on our plans​,” Mayorkas told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on March 21.​

“We have a short-term plan, a medium-term plan, and a long-term plan, and the president and I have spoken to this repeatedly. Please remember something: That ​President ​[Donald] ​Trump dismantled the orderly, humane, and efficient way of allowing children to make their claims under United States law in their home countries​,” the secretary stated in response to a question about whether Biden’s statements encourage illegal immigration, without elaborating.

The Epoch Times has reached out to the White House about the photos.

Source: Leaked Photos Show Children Packed in ‘Terrible Conditions’ in Border Patrol Facility

Texas Launches Operation to Combat Drug, People Smuggling at Southern Border

Migrant families wait for their bus at a bus station in Brownsville, Texas before traveling to meet relatives or sponsors on March 2, 2021. (Sergio Flores/AFP/Getty Images)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday launched a program that would deploy state national guard troops and other agencies to respond to the burgeoning crisis at the southern border.

Abbott announced that his office has launched Operation Lone Star, which will deploy air, ground, and marine, and tactical border security assets to prevent Mexican criminal organizations from smuggling drugs and people into Texas. The operation will be launched in collaboration with the state’s Department of Public Safety.

“Texas supports legal immigration but will not be an accomplice to the open border policies that cause, rather than prevent, a humanitarian crisis in our state and endanger the lives of Texans,” Abbott said in a statement to media outlets on Saturday.

“We will surge the resources and law enforcement personnel needed to confront this crisis.”

This comes as the number of illegal crossings at the southern border continue their steadily rise since October last year. The number of encounters at the southwest border between October 2020 and January 2021 was 296,259, which is up from 164,932 during the same period in 2019 and 2020, according to data from the U.S. Custom and Border Patrol (CBP), representing a 79.6 percent increase.

Meanwhile, Reuters has reported, citing anonymous sources, that the number of illegal immigrants apprehended by U.S. border agents spiked even further for the month of February at nearly 100,000 migrants detained. CBP has yet to release its February data.

Since taking office Biden has reversed several Trump-era border security measures that were aimed at stemming the flow of illegal immigration at the southern border and increasing America’s public security.

The increased number of unaccompanied minors arriving at the border in recent weeks has seen the Biden administration open more overflow shelters to handle the influx. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas added on Monday that instead of “expelling young children” to Mexico while processing their asylum claims, as was done under the Trump administration, DHS is working to release minors to relatives or sponsors in the United States if the minors are from Guatemala, Honduras, or El Salvador.

Some of the immigration policies that Biden implemented include temporarily ending former President Donald Trump’s Migrant Protection Protocols that sent illegal immigrations back into Mexico while their cases are decided. He has also reversed Trump’s ban on travel from terror-prone countries, halted the remaining construction of the border wall, and has issued a sweeping immigration package to Congress that offers a legalization pathway to an estimated 11 million illegal immigrants already in the country.

These actions have drawn widespread criticism, in particular, from Trump.

“Our border is now totally out of control thanks to the disastrous leadership of Joe Biden,” Trump wrote in a statement released on March 5 through an intermediary.

“Our great Border Patrol and ICE agents have been disrespected, demeaned, and mocked by the Biden Administration,” Trump added, referring to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

“A mass incursion into the country by people who should not be here is happening on an hourly basis, getting worse by the minute. Many have criminal records, and many others have and are spreading covid,” he wrote, referring to COVID-19, the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Earlier this month, a large group of migrants seeking to cross the U.S.-Mexico border held a demonstration in Mexico, calling for Biden to let them into the United States.

Biden has not yet acknowledged the crisis or announced any concrete plan to address the growing numbers of illegal crossings. When asked by a reporter this week whether there is a crisis at the border, Biden replied, “No, we’ll be able to handle it.”

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) sent a letter to Biden on Friday requesting a meeting to address the issue, saying that he has “great concern” about how his administration is handling the border crisis.

“We must acknowledge the border crisis, develop a plan, and, in no uncertain terms, strongly discourage individuals from Mexico and Central America from ever making the dangerous journey to our southern border,” McCarthy wrote (pdf).

Source: Texas Launches Operation to Combat Drug, People Smuggling at Southern Border

Exclusive: Former ICE Chief Says Immigration Law Becoming Meaningless

Former acting ICE Director Tom Homan speaks at an event for Angel families and sheriffs outside the Capitol building in Washington on Sept. 25, 2019. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

The former acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says the new administration’s steps to narrow the criteria for immigration enforcement are “just ridiculous.”

“It’s almost like it’s not illegal to be illegally in the United States anymore,” Tom Homan told The Epoch Times on Feb. 18.

Homan retired during the Trump administration, after directing the agency responsible for interior immigration enforcement and deportations as well as investigations into human trafficking and cross-border crime.

He’s concerned the Biden administration is rendering immigration law meaningless.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Feb. 18 announced new enforcement priorities that will focus on three groups of illegal immigrants: national security threats such as known or suspected terrorists; those who crossed the border illegally after Nov. 1, 2020; and public safety threats who are convicted of aggravated felonies.

Any ICE agent who encounters an illegal immigrant who falls outside of the three categories must get pre-approval from their field office before taking any action.

“They say it’s public safety, but it’s only the worst of the worst,” Homan said. “When it comes to assault, when it comes to robbery and burglary, and all these other crimes that they’ve taken off the table, they’ve pretty much sent a message to the rest of the world [that] it’s OK to enter the country illegally—as long as you don’t commit a few of the most serious crimes, you’re free to stay, because ICE isn’t looking for you.”

He argues that crimes such as driving under the influence should be considered a public safety issue.

“I was a police officer. I know what it’s like to run upon a scene of a deadly DUI—it’s terrible. And they’ve obviously never talked to an angel mom or angel dad whose child was killed by someone here illegally that was driving drunk,” Homan said.

A DHS official said the new guidelines for ICE are to help the agency focus its limited resources on “cases that the public cares about.”

The official said ICE arrests aren’t expected to drop under the new guidelines. “It’s just a question to us of reallocating resources to the cases that really, truly matter,” the official said.

But Homan said ICE was already prioritizing public safety threats.

Ninety-two percent of the almost 186,000 individuals that ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations removed in fiscal 2020 had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, according to ICE’s end-of-year report.

ICE also conducted more than 103,000 interior arrests—just under 30 percent fewer than in fiscal 2019, due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Approximately 90 percent of those arrested had a criminal conviction or charge, according to the report. Those arrested included aliens with criminal charges or convictions for 1,837 homicide offenses, 37,247 assault offenses, and 10,302 sexual assault or sex offenses.

“Every crime committed by an illegal alien is a preventable crime,” Homan said. “If we had true border security, true immigration enforcement—if we actually enforced immigration laws in this country and secured our border—thousands of crimes every day could be prevented because they’re not here.”

Part of ICE’s job is to track down and remove the 672,000 fugitives who have been ordered removed by a federal immigration judge but are still in the United States.

But the new DHS directive says ICE agents must first get clearance from supervisors if they encounter illegal immigrants who aren’t convicted criminals during operations.

The decision to then arrest the individual, or not, needs to take into account whether the person might be suffering from a serious physical or mental illness, a DHS official said.

“We want them [ICE] to think about ties to the community, whether the individual has family here in the United States, U.S. citizen family members, and other considerations,” the official said.

Homan said DHS is telling ICE agents to ignore removal orders from immigration judges.

“At what point can the executive branch tell the judicial branch that their legal orders are meaningless?” he said.

“It’s ridiculous for a law enforcement officer to have to call a supervisor for permission to enforce the law. The law is black and white. Name a state trooper that needs to get approval to write a speeding ticket.”

On Feb. 22, attorney general nominee Merrick Garland testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee and was asked whether he believed illegal entry into the United States should remain a crime. The immigration court system sits within the Department of Justice.

“I just haven’t thought about that question,” Garland said. “I think the president has made clear that we are a country with borders and with a concern about national security. I don’t know if a proposal to decriminalize but still make it unlawful to re-enter. I just don’t know the answer to that question. I haven’t thought about it.”

President Joe Biden has undone several border security measures that the Trump administration had put into effect, including temporarily suspending deportations of illegal aliens, reversing President Donald Trump’s ban on travel from terror-prone countries, halting border wall construction, and issuing a sweeping immigration package to Congress that includes amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants.

Homan asserts that the Biden approach is “never going to solve the immigration crisis, and so the border will continue to be out of control.”

He expects an imminent humanitarian crisis at the border.

“During the last surge [in 2019], Border Patrol said 50 to 60 percent of their manpower is no longer on the border because they’re changing diapers, making hospital runs, taking care of families, [with] half or more [agents] no longer on the line,” he said.

“President Biden was vice president during the first surge in FY14 and ’15. How did we stop it? We stopped it by building detention facilities and detaining people until they saw a judge. So he forgot all the lessons learned and now he’s trying to stop detention.”

ICE detention facility capacity has been decreased from 52,000 to 15,000 illegal aliens.

Source: Exclusive: Former ICE Chief Says Immigration Law Becoming Meaningless

Border Wall Contractors Told to Stop Construction by Tuesday Night: Congressman

People work on the U.S.-Mexico border wall in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 12, 2019. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

All Customs and Border Protection (CPB) construction on the U.S.-Mexico border wall will stop by the end of Tuesday, according to a Democratic congressman whose district is located along the border.

“I received notification that in accordance with President [Joe] Biden’s executive order, all CPB contractors have now been formally notified by CBP Procurement to pause construction activities on CBP self-executed projects,” Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) said in a statement. “While CBP cannot speak on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense or U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), it is expected that DOD and USACE are undertaking parallel action on CBP-funded border wall projects that they are overseeing.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees the CBP, for comment about the wall construction halt.

The Trump administration had obtained billions of dollars in funding to construct the wall. Over the last four years, amid legal and congressional battles, about 450 miles of the wall were built along the border.

The wall stoppage on Tuesday complies with Biden’s executive orders that were issued last week. The order halted projects where money was shifted from military projects to the border.

“This is a promising step in our work to halt construction of the ineffective and wasteful border wall and undo the damage that borderlands have experienced these past four years,” Cueller continued in his statement. “However, our work continues. I remain steadfast in my commitment to working with the new administration until every border wall contract is terminated and all construction crews leave our border communities.”

After Biden’s executive orders were issued, former Trump administration officials said that the border wall is necessary to reduce immigration numbers.

That includes former Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan, who said the Biden administration has made the United States less safe with the president’s executive blitz last week after taking office.

“With the stroke of a pen, President Biden made this country less safe,” Morgan told Breitbart News on Jan. 23. “It’s pure politics over public safety.”

“Look, I know what our team said to the transition team,” Morgan said. “I know the facts and data and analysis that was provided. I know what they told them and gave them that showed that the wall works.”

Morgan added that he believes the current administration did not speak to experts with the Border Patrol about the policies that should remain, including the wall. He also cited executive orders ending the Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP), also known as the “Remain in Mexico” program.

One of former President Donald Trump’s final trips was to the U.S.-Mexico border wall in Alamo, Texas.

Source: Border Wall Contractors Told to Stop Construction by Tuesday Night: Congressman

Former Border Patrol Head: Biden Administration Made America Less Safe Within Hours

Migrants hoping to reach the U.S. border walk alongside a highway in Chiquimula, Guatemala, on Jan. 16, 2021. (Sandra Sebastian/AP Photo)

Former U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan accused the Biden administration of making the United States less safe within hours of being sworn in last week.

“With the stroke of a pen, President Biden made this country less safe,” Morgan told Breitbart News on Jan. 23. “It’s pure politics over public safety.”

“Look, I know what our team said to the transition team,” the former commissioner said, adding that he believes the administration did not speak to experts with the Border Patrol about what policies should remain. “I know the facts and data and analysis that was provided. I know what they told them and gave them that showed that the wall works.”

Morgan cited the removal of the Migrant Protection Protocol (MPP), also known as the “Remain in Mexico” program, as a program that should have been kept.

“So this was this is something we’ve been saying was the most dangerous thing that he’s been saying all along, that he was going to get rid of on day one, and that’s what he did,” the former commissioner added. “That policy alone attributed to the absolute reduction of [migrant] families coming up from Central America.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.

“It’s just frustrating what I’m seeing right now,” Morgan added. “To me, it’s all politics. It’s all about politics. And our country’s less safe because of it and it’s just disgusting.”

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Wednesday that the agency will “cease adding individuals into the program” under the MPP.

“The legalization provisions in that bill apply only to people already living in the United States,” the agency said. The MPP program was launched in January 2019 to help stem the flow of meritless asylum claims that were clogging up the system by the hundreds of thousands. The MPP program makes asylum seekers wait in Mexico while their asylum case is adjudicated. Prior to its implementation, thousands of illegal immigrants were released into the United States and told to await their cases, most of whom failed to appear in court.

The administration also said that for 100 days, it will halt deportations for some illegal immigrants.

The DHS will “pause removals for certain noncitizens ordered deported to ensure we have a fair and effective immigration enforcement system focused on protecting national security, border security, and public safety.”

“The pause will allow DHS to ensure that its resources are dedicated to responding to the most pressing challenges that the United States faces, including immediate operational challenges at the southwest border in the midst of the most serious global public health crisis in a century,” the statement reads. “Throughout this interim period, DHS will continue to enforce our immigration laws.”

Source: Former Border Patrol Head: Biden Administration Made America Less Safe Within Hours

Trump to Visit US-Mexico Border to Highlight Border Wall Progress

President Donald Trump looks on before signing a plaque as he participates in a ceremony commemorating the 200th mile of border wall at the international border with Mexico in San Luis, Ariz., on June 23, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump is expected to travel to the U.S.-Mexico border on Tuesday to highlight his administration’s work on the border wall, the White House said Saturday.

Trump will travel to the town of Alamo, Texas. He will mark the completion of 400 miles of border wall and his administration’s efforts to reform what the White House described as the nation’s broken immigration system.

The border wall was one of Trump’s signature campaign promises in 2016, with the president hailing the measure as one that would both curb the inflow of illegal immigrants and cut down on crime.

President-elect Joe Biden had vowed to halt border wall construction.

Epoch Times Photo
People work on the U.S.-Mexico border wall in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 12, 2019. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

While most of the wall went up in areas that had smaller barriers, the Trump administration has built hundreds of miles of fencing as high as 30 feet in a short amount of time—most of it last year.

Border Patrol officials said the new fencing, much of which has replaced much smaller vehicle barriers, provides more deterrence against human smugglers and people trying to elude capture.

“We are shutting down illegal border crossing points with the new border wall system,” said U.S. Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott last year. “For too long, the smugglers had the upper hand in choosing where and when they smuggle their contraband, and that will no longer be the case.”

Source: Trump to Visit US-Mexico Border to Highlight Border Wall Progress