Originally published October 18, 2023 4:00 pm PDT
U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens said there have already been more than 18,000 gotaways in the first two weeks of fiscal year 2024.
QUICK FACTS:
- U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens reported that there were more than 18,000 “known gotaways” during the first 16 days of fiscal year 2024 at the U.S. Southern border.
- “Over 18K known gotaways in the first 16 days of FY24. These are individuals whose identities & purpose we do not know. That is why you need every Border Patrol agent to be in the field and on patrol,” Owens said.
- The entry of unknown individuals into the country poses a public safety and national security risk, according to Owens.
- “Yesterday, USBP agents in El Paso arrested a Venezuelan national, who is a suspected Tren de Araguas gang member. He was also incarcerated for murder & theft in his native country,” Owens tweeted on October 3.
- Fiscal year 2024 runs from October 2023 through the end of September 2024.
U.S. BORDER PATROL CHIEF JASON OWENS ON APPREHENSIONS AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER:
“This past weekend, USBP agents interdicted 4 convicted sex offenders from re-entering our country illegally,” Owens said.
BACKGROUND:
- In February 2023, Tucson Sector Chief Patrol Agent John Modlin said he had “tremendous concern” that felons and terrorists are among the “gotaways” crossing the southern border.
- Chief Modlin stated that many migrants crossing the border near Tuscon are single males, likely using the “inhospitable” route because they are “previously deported felons.”
- He speculated that the increase in encounters was due partly to migrants believing that the Biden administration supported open-border policies.
- “Interviewing [migrants] post-arrest, what became the most common response was that they believed that when the administration changed, the policy changed, and that there was an open border,” Modlin said.
- In 2022, Arizona Border Patrol agents apprehended over 591,000 illegal foreign nationals and recorded at least 224,250 gotaways, while California agents apprehended over 242,000 and reported over 59,000 gotaways.
- Collectively, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported 2.7 million illegal immigrant apprehensions last October.
