It has been reported that as a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations helicopter, was investigating a reported campfire west of Lukeville, Arizona they observed a group of illegals and notified U. S. Border Patrol agents. Agents assigned to the Ajo Station arrived in the area and discovered 325 Central Americans who had entered illegally yesterday morning. The group included 150 juveniles, of which, 32 were unaccompanied.
Vehicle barrier only installed
Agents, upon talking to the group were told buses and trucks had dropped them off on Mexico's Federal Highway 2 the night before in smaller groups.
Once they were all gathered they walked the 50 yards to the U.S. border and crossed together around eight o'clock in the morning to wait for authorities. Additional personnel was called out and agents on assignment in different locations were reassigned to provide extra security. The group was transported by vans and trucks to a desert staging area 15 miles away, they were then loaded onto a bus and driven to the nearest Border Patrol facility for processing.
Trained medical staff on hand
Upon arriving, trained Department of Homeland Security physician and medical staff began to screen the group. While examining the illegals they discovered a five-year-old with possible chicken pox and a 12-year-old with a skin infection, both were taken to a local hospital for treatment.
The remaining group of illegals was taken to begin immigration processing. This is now the third group found to be illegally entering the U. S. in this area to date, bring the total to 650 apprehensions in this remote, unsecured location. The last one was in December 2018 when 306 Central Americans from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras entered illegally.
At that time, five people and nine children, between the age of 1 and 13, had flu-type symptoms were taken to the hospital for treatment.
Increased groups crossing over
Just today U.S. Customs and Border Protection released January statistics for border enforcement that showed a continuing high count of Central American children and families coming illegally across the Southwest border in remote areas.
January has shown agents rounded up 58 large groups this year compared to 13 large groups last year in January. Family unit apprehensions are said to be up by 290 percent compared to the October to January 2018 numbers. Brian Hastings, U.S. Border Patrol Chief of Operations stated, “These trends are seen as very concerning, demonstrating the reality of the ongoing border security crisis.” In January, 10,314 people were found to be inadmissible after they presented themselves at a Southwest Border port of entry. For the whole year of 2018, 124,511 were deemed inadmissible.
