NOGALES, AZ — Along our border with Mexico, border patrol agents saw one of their busiest years in two decades.
New federal data from this past fiscal year, which runs from October of 2023 to September of 2024, shows over 460,000 migrants were arrested in the Tucson Sector alone.
Even though numbers recently are down over 50%, the 2024 fiscal year brought immense challenges to Arizona and its border patrol agents.
Week in Review...
— Chief Patrol Agent - Tucson Sector (@USBPChiefTCA) October 11, 2024
- 2,400 Apprehensions From 92 Different Countries
- 284 Federal Criminal Cases
- 40 Human Smuggling Events
- 24 lbs. of Cocaine
- 21 Rescues
- 14 Narcotics Events
- 14 lbs. of Fentanyl
- 3 Firearms Seized
- 2 Recovered Stolen Vehicles pic.twitter.com/plrAEB3AVr
“I think about the incredible efforts the agents put forward, dealing with insurmountable odds,” Tucson Sector Chief John Modlin said.
Some of those challenges include a December surge that shut down the Lukeville border crossing for a month.
"The smuggling organizations just pushed them through the most remote areas," Modlin said.
Combining the Yuma and Tucson sectors, more than half a million people were apprehended by border patrol agents in Arizona over the last year. Looking at just the Tucson Sector, their arrests number was the highest in 20 years.
Chief Modlin says that level of migration takes up a lot of time and resources and he worries about what or who slipped through.
"There were times where we couldn't patrol particular sectors of the border because we were so busy dealing with the flood of people crossing the border," Modlin said.
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Toward the end of the fiscal year, apprehensions are down over 50%. They have plummeted since President Biden signed an order targeting illegal border crossers on June 4.
Migrant activists say the policy denies people their legal right to ask for protection, as U.S. immigration law states migrants can ask for asylum even if they cross the border illegally.
"They're sending people back to danger and possibly death," Pedro De Velasco, who works at the Kino Border Initiative shelter in Nogales, Mexico, said.
On the U.S. side, Chief Modlin says right now it's helping agents keep the country safe.
"It gives us more time to do interviews with people after they cross, and to determine if they have mal-intent toward the United States."
The ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging the executive order. It's still going through the legal process, which can take months, or even years to complete.
