The Washington Examiner took a look at the security measures put in place to assist in keeping our border and Border Patrol officers safe. In the past year, the United States has seen record numbers of people crossing illegally into the country. Now, the crisis is being considered a matter of national security.
BORDER CRISIS: ‘INVASION AT THE BORDER’
Border Patrol has set up stations along gaps to catch people filtering through the border wall. We visited one port of entry in Yuma, Arizona. Just in this section, 850 people a day turn themselves over, seeking asylum. This equals about 300,000 people in 2022 alone. This equals twice the number the small border town saw last year. This influx is putting a strain on the city of Yuma and the Border Patrol. Yuma County Supervisor Jonathan Lines brought us to the Yuma gap at 3:00 a.m. to explain why allowing people to filter through this border wall gap is not a good use of Border Patrol. “All these Border Patrol agents here processing people, they are not able to focus on national security, keeping the bad actors and keeping the narcotics from coming into the U.S. They are here in an immigration function, as these people are turning themselves in.”
Once people cross the border, the first thing officers ask is for them to take the laces off their shoes. Many stand perplexed at the request for a moment before they oblige. This security measure is implemented because the laces can be used as a weapon or for people to hang themselves while in custody. Men, women, and children can all be seen sitting in the dirt on the edge of the Arizona desert, completing the tedious task of stringing out the laces on their shoes. As people returned to line up in the chilly, early morning hours to be processed, we saw every person without shoelaces, leading many laces to be discarded and littered along the wall.
WORTHLESS WALL: $2.5M OF STEEL SITS IDLE AT BORDER WHILE SHIPPING CONTAINERS ARE USED INSTEAD
Some of the gaps have been filled by the state of Arizona. We filmed three people from Cuba climbing over the shipping containers being used as a makeshift border wall. We recorded while they struggled to scale the containers, trying on both sides. Both men nearly lost their bags as the material began to snag getting over the barbed wire. With maybe a few scratches and bruises, all three did successfully make it down to the American side.
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Sensors are placed along the wall to trigger cameras alerting police of people attempting to cross into the U.S. illegally. Law enforcement was already waiting to apprehend the immigrants by the time they made it down. We were told by a local police officer that others who have tried to cross at this exact point have died from their injuries after falling off the containers.
