In a single day earlier this month, border patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley sector of the U.S.-Mexico border made 27 arrests in four separate incidents, Texas Border Business (TBB) reports.
According to the business-news outlet, border agents and other law enforcement officials on Feb. 2 conducted three vehicle pursuits and a raid on a suspected "stash house," resulting in the arrests of a total of 27 individuals for being in the country illegally, according to TBB.
The continuing challenges along the U.S.-Mexico border involving illegal immigration, human smuggling, drug trafficking and more can be blamed on the federal government and on current Texas governor Greg Abbott, according to former state senator Don Huffines. Huffines is one of several candidates running against Abbot to be the Republican nominee for governor in the March 1 primary elections in the state.
“Our federal government has proven they do not intend to secure the Texas border and never will,” Huffines said on his campaign website. “Meanwhile, it’s clear Abbott is incapable and unwilling to take the steps necessary to keep Texans safe.”
Gov. Abbott pointed the finger at the federal government for failings along the nation's southern border, however.
During a Jan. 27 press event in Weslaco, Abbott said President Joe Biden is failing to address the “crisis” at the border.
“Texas is responding in full force to the Biden administration’s failure to address the disaster at our border, and our efforts are made stronger by the collaboration with other state leaders from across the country,” Abbott said at the event. “Like Texas, the attorneys general here today are working night and day to provide the safety and security Americans demand and deserve, and I thank them for their support and continued efforts to secure our border and to keep communities across America safe.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection report that in the first three months of Fiscal Year 2022 (October, November and December 2021), USCBP agents encountered 518,360 people attempting to enter the country illegally, the agency reports. In the same period in FY2021, UCBP agents encountered 218,036 people trying to enter the country illegally, and in 2020, that number was 128,347, according to USCBP.
And Mexican criminal organizations are profiting from the increase in the number of migrants willing to pay to illegally cross the border in order to get into the United States, according to a report by KTSM-TV in El Paso.
Smugglers "“are making a lot of money from human smuggling,” USCBP agent Valeria Morales told KTSM News in the report. Morales said criminals “charge between $8,000 and $15,000, depending on the person and where they are coming from.” She said the criminal organizations have networks in place, from drivers to stash-house coordinators, who move the migrants to their final destinations in the United States.
A Quinnipiac poll conducted this past Dec. 2-6 in Texas reports 33% of respondents say border security is the "most urgent issue" that Texas faces, well ahead of the economy at 11%, abortion (9%), COVID-19 (8%) and election integrity (8%).
With the primary election just around the corner, Huffines continues to push Abbot to talk about border security.
“Texans are placed in harm’s way every day by the flood of crime flowing across the Texas border, but our government doesn’t seem to take it seriously,” Huffines said on his campaign website.
“Texas needs a governor who will stand up for their rights and protect them from this invasion. When I am governor, I will enable our troops and law enforcement to do their job so our citizens can be safe from this threat.”
Huffines, the CEO of real estate development firm Huffines Communities and a former state senator, faces a crowded field in his attempt to replace Abbott, the state's 48th governor and its longest-serving attorney general.
Challengers in GOP primary include former Florida Congressman and Texas Republican Party chairman Allen West and media personality Chad Prather. Former El Paso City Council member and U.S. Congressman Robert Francis “Beto” O'Rourke leads the Democratic field for nomination to run for governor.