LUKEVILLE, Arizona — According to a source within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the constant flow of migrants into the Tucson Border Patrol Sector has quickly depleted CBP resources in the area. The sector, according to the source, is detaining more than 4,000 migrants in holding facilities designed to detain 2,669.
Breitbart Texas captured video of more than 600 migrants staged outdoors near Lukeville, Arizona, hoping to be transported to one of the overcrowded facilities for formal processing and release into the United States.
The video shows the migrants huddled against the border wall in the Organ Pipe National Monument reserve in near-freezing temperatures. The area was but one of two in the sector where migrants were staged in the hundreds as they awaited detention space and transportation resources to become available so they could leave the frigid outdoor environment. Smoke from small fires set by the migrants can be seen smoldering on the desert floor.
The migrants stripped branches from small trees and scrub brush in the national park to fuel the fires. Garbage and debris were also set alight to provide warmth during the night. As reported by Breitbart Texas, according to some migrants, many have spent several days waiting to depart the encampment over the weekend. Biden administration officials dispatched elite tactical group members of the Border Patrol’s BORTAC and BORSTAR teams to the encampment to provide security and medical attention to the frustrated migrants.
The migrants held in the outdoor staging areas are not accounted for in the detainee population count, according to the source. Until the migrants are transported to nearby Border Patrol facilities or a soft-sided processing center in Tucson, the migrants are not entered into the detention database. This likely brings the number of migrants within the sector to more than 5,000 in the care and custody of the Border Patrol.
The migrant surge will begin to impact the small businesses in Lukeville as the only port of entry in the small city has been shut down. Legal border crossers must now utilize ports of entry more than 100 miles at the San Luis crossing near Yuma, Arizona, and the Nogales, Arizona, port to engage in legitimate trade and travel.
The video shows the uniqueness of the migrant demographics crossing near Lukeville. Most of the migrants hail from countries outside the Western Hemisphere — from as far away as North Africa and the Middle East. According to the source, most speak no English or Spanish, making the task of processing and interviewing the migrants a slow, tedious process.
The migrants from these areas, known as Special Interest Migrants, are a lucrative commodity to Mexican drug cartels who also coordinate their travel through Mexico and into the United States. The source says the migrants have paid as much as $10,000 or more each to be brought to the border wall in Sonoyta, Mexico, across from Lukeville.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, the Border Patrol apprehended nearly 190,000 migrants entering the United States illegally at the southern border in November. The Tucson Border Patrol Sector, which includes Lukeville, leads the southwest border with the apprehension of nearly 119,000 migrants during October and November.
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.
