LUKEVILLE, Arizona — A warning sign has been placed at the entrance of the Organ Pipe National Monument area, recommending tourists refrain from entering the area due to ongoing Customs and Border Protection (CBP) operations. Nearby, the town of Lukeville is completely shut down and void of human presence. At the same time, Breitbart Texas witnessed a constant flow of mostly African migrants crossing the border wall and walking through the Organ Pipe National Monument, hoping to secure their freedom in the United States on Tuesday evening.
This Breitbart video shows signage placed by CBP at one entrance to the monument, cautioning travelers to stay out but offering no clue as to what lies ahead. After driving past the sign, Breitbart Texas observed CBP Office of Field Operations (OFO) personnel — those normally tasked with inspecting legitimate travelers and cargo at the port of entry shut down because of the migrant crossings — performing duties once reserved for Border Patrol agents.
Lukeville Border Crisis (Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas)
The Lukeville port of entry nearby is completely void of any legitimate trade and travel. As Border Patrol personnel driving vans and buses shuttled migrants to a processing facility from the Organ Pipe National Monument reserve, a stream of mostly African migrants continued to cross the border unabated. The video shows a line of migrants stretching for as far as the eye can see, walking on a self-guided quest along the border wall, searching for Border Patrol agents to surrender to.
A steady stream of migrants continue to flow across the Arizona border with Mexico near Lukeville. (Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas)
The migrants ultimately found OFO personnel instead. The CBP OFO staff from the shuttered port of entry corralled the migrants at a staging area and began loading them into the arriving vans to leave the desert area. The available transportation resources proved insufficient to move the hundreds of migrants Breitbart Texas watched.
Migrants find CBP OFO officers instead of Border Patrol agents at border wall in Lukeville, Arizona. (Randy Clark/Breitbart Texas)
The port in Lukeville has been closed for more than one week, rattling the few local business operators who rely on tourist travel for their livelihood. A convenience store, restaurant, and a duty-free shop were closed on Tuesday and will likely remain shuttered until the port reopens. The reopening date remains a mystery, according to an employee at the food mart fueling station in Why, Arizona. The store, 30 miles from Lukeville, provides services to local residents but relies heavily on cross-border travelers for revenue. According to an employee who spoke to Breitbart Texas, the store reduced the hours of operation and may close on certain days if business remains slow.
Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs (D) visited Lukeville over the weekend after sending a scathing letter to the White House on Friday criticizing the closure of the port of entry. Hobbs is demanding $512 million in federal funds to offset state expenses to cope with the migrant surge into her state. Hobbs described the closure of the port, writing, “The decision to close the Lukeville Port of Entry has led to an unmitigated humanitarian crisis in the area and has put Arizona’s safety and commerce at risk.”
Hobbs added, “Our ports of entry are essential to our state and our country’s economy, and it is vital that they be properly staffed and resourced to continue to fuel economic growth in the state.” Despite the governor’s pleas, the unabated flow of migrants continues, and the town of Lukeville remains shuttered.
The constant surge of migrants crossing into the United States at the Arizona border resulted in a simultaneous increase of migrants being released into the country to pursue asylum claims as Border Patrol-operated processing facilities in the region remain over capacity. As reported by Breitbart Texas, detention capacity and transportation issues have resulted in hundreds of migrants waiting days to be transported away from the border wall in Lukeville.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.
