FEDS: Cartels 'Exploiting' Outdated Border Barriers for 'Human Smuggling'
Border Patrol officials capture 103 migrants walking through border
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Border Patrol officials at the Tucson Sector say that Mexican cartels are 'exploiting' outdated border barriers in Arizona to transport their human cargo.
Officials pointed out surveillance footage which revealed 103 migrants walking through an anti-vehicle post and rail fence on the border west of the Lukeville Port of Entry.
The border agents said that human smugglers frequently use the area yards from Mexico’s Federal Highway 2, to dump their cargo leaving them to walk into the United States.
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[RELATED] Democrats' Refusal to Fund Border Wall Cost Taxpayers $40 Billion So Far
A team of agents was dispatched from Ajo Station to the scene of the illicit crossing who apprehended the 103 migrants without incident.
The agents identified the group as 22 Hondurans and 81 Guatemalans.
The said the group includes 59, eight of those are unaccompanied.
The age ranges from one to 56-years-old, officials say.
Border Patrol officials report “an alarming surge of large family groups crossing the border illegally at the direction of human smugglers.”
Customs and Border Protection officials said, “Transnational criminal organizations exploit the vulnerability of family groups with false promises of legal status and encourage dangerous border crossings, placing lives at risk.”
339 Arrested, 50 Victims Rescued in Major California Human Trafficking Sting | Neon Nettle https://t.co/sPZ12hN3HK
— Lady 💋⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@PetuniaTwo) February 4, 2019
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In January, more than 100 migrants were taken into custody after camera footage caught them climbing the US-Mexico border wall in Arizona.
The video, posted by CBP, shows individuals on the US side of the border departing from the area immediately surrounding the wall.
The members were arrested after entry to the US on January 21, according to Border Patrol officials.
President Donald Trump is allocating $8 billion from various federal agencies to fund the wall along the US Southern Border as he declared a national emergency last week.
By declaring a national emergency, Trump's administration will be able to move funds to pay for the project, bypassing Congress and resistance from Pelosi's Democrats, a senior administration official told Fox News late Thursday.
Trump is expected to sign a House border security package on Friday that provides $1.4 billion for the project, falling far short of the $5.7 billion the president requested.
The sum offered by the Democrats would only finance just a quarter of the 200-plus miles he wanted to defend as a priority against illegal immigrants.
