On Monday’s broadcast of NPR’s “Morning Edition,” co-host Steve Inskeep reported that migration in the Tucson Sector has increased to six times what Border Patrol was comfortable with in 2020 and stated that “Many” of the migrants “tell border agents that President Donald Trump’s departure from office encouraged them to think the U.S. would be more open.”
While discussing the Tucson sector of the border Inskeep said, [relevant exchange begins around 5:20] “In this sector of the border, agents used to encounter 60,000 migrants per year, which is a lot.”
He then played a clip of Tucson Sector Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin saying, “But we were comfortable at that pace.”
Inskeep then said, “60,000 was okay, but the number grew.”
He then played a clip of Modlin saying, “2021 happened, and it jumped to 190,000 people. So, we tripled, basically, in one year. I thought it couldn’t get worse than that in terms of numbers, and then ’22 happened, which was about 250,000 people. Last year was 370,000 people.”
Inskeep then stated, “For every migrant that used to arrive, six now come from Mexico and from around the world. Many tell border agents that President Donald Trump’s departure from office encouraged them to think the U.S. would be more open. Human smugglers also advertised for customers on social media, appealing to would-be asylum seekers.”
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