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EXCLUSIVE: Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is closing three freeway checkpoints in Arizona, Fox News has learned, as the overwhelmed agency struggles to contain a rapidly worsening crisis on the southern border.
The agency is closing three checkpoints in Willcox, Ariz., Until further notice as staff are used instead to deal with the influx of migrants at the border, according to an internal document dated Tuesday seen by Fox News. Closing the checkpoints will severely hamper authorities’ anti-trafficking efforts, a CBP source told Fox News.
BORDER NUMBERS SHOULD SHOW WAVE AS CHILDREN MIGRANTS IN CUSTODY TRIPLES, BIDEN DHS ASKS FOR HELP
CBP later confirmed this decision in a statement to Fox: “The Tucson area has reoriented the workforce, based on operational needs in response to changing traffic, resulting in the closure of several checkpoints. tactics in Southeast Arizona. “
“We plan to reopen these checkpoints based on labor and activity levels,” the statement said.
It comes as the Biden administration faces an increase in the number of migrant children and family units at the border. CBP will release figures this week and is expected to show there were around 100,000 apprehensions in February.
A senior DHS official confirmed to Fox News that the number of migrant children detained along the border has tripled in the past two weeks to more than 3,250 and that more than 1,360 have been detained longer than the three days allowed.
Mark Morgan, former acting CBP commissioner under the Trump administration, said it was no surprise given the skyrocketing numbers.
“This is exactly what happened to us in 2019 at the height of the crisis before we could get the tools, policies and authorities we needed to deal with it,” he told Fox News. . “We were closing lanes, taking resources away from what I called our national security mission to deal with the humanitarian crisis.”
“As you look at daily numbers between 4,500 and 5,000 a day, I knew it was going to happen,” he said.
BIDEN ADMINISTRATION ALLOWS MIGRANT CHILDREN’S CENTERS TO EXTEND TO 100% CAPACITY DURING THE INCREASE IN NUMBERS
Morgan said closing checkpoints could make it easier for illegal illegal immigrants and drugs to be brought into the United States.
“When you start to close the inland checkpoints or the lanes at the border entry points, you absolutely increase the cartel’s ability to smuggle drugs into the country,” he said.
He said closing the checkpoints “means there is no one there and the cars are just passing.”
The administration ended a number of Trump-era policies implemented to end the 2019 crisis, including the Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP), which kept migrants in Mexico for their hearings, and a number of agreements with Central American countries.
He also lowered Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ‘s priorities for arrest and deportation after being prevented from implementing a deportation break after a trial in Texas. Separately, the White House and Congressional Democrats are proposing a citizenship pathway for millions of illegal immigrants as part of an immigration reform bill.
Republicans and others have linked the policy change to the surge in migrants, saying it is prompting migrants to come north. The Biden administration denied the existence of a crisis, saying instead that it was working to end the “cruelty” of the previous administration.
But DHS secretary Alejandro Mayorkas sent an email to staff on Monday asking for volunteers for a “volunteer force” to assist CBP at the border, describing “an overwhelming number” of migrants.
“You’ve probably seen the news of the overwhelming number of migrants seeking access to this country along the southwestern border,” he said in an email obtained by Fox News. “President Biden and I are committed to ensuring our nation has a safe, orderly and humane immigration system while continuing to balance all other critical DHS missions.”
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The demand comes as the administration increases the number of treatment facilities and facilities for migrant children to handle the influx. Health and Human Services said it was considering using a military base in Virginia to house migrant children.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki did not say on Tuesday whether there was a border crisis, but said: “There is an increase, that there is more. children crossing the border that we have no facilities at the moment. “
Griff Jenkins of Fox News contributed to this report.
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