HOUSTON, Texas--The massive influx of adults and minors crossing into the U.S. from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador has brought the Customs and Border Protection agency (CPB) past its capacity to provide security at the U.S./Mexico border, according to the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC).
In an interview with Breitbart Texas, NBPC Vice President Shawn Moran revealed that the Mexican cartels control the flow of illegal immigrants across Mexico through the monopoly on coyotes, otherwise known as human smugglers. “Mexican cartels are exploiting this crisis to get their shipments through. They know our schedules, our shifts, our manpower, and how we react to these situations,” said Vice President Moran.
“The cartels control the flow of people from south of our border. The coyotes are mostly at the employ of the cartels. They rent the smuggling routes that are protected by the cartel enterprises. We are being completely reactive and chasing the cartel activity.
"Today they are using the RGV sector [Rio Grande Valley], but they could begin using another sector instead at any moment.” Moran was referring to the mass re-assignment of Border Patrol agents to Texas from western states like Arizona.
The fact that the CPB has taken so much time to reorganize federal assets to handle the crisis along the Texas border with Mexico indicates an inability to preempt the Mexican cartels and be ready for their next move, according to Vice President Moran. He stated, “The CPB is unable to quickly react to the changing trends in illegal immigration and drug smuggling.”
He said the Border Patrol agents were exhausted and overwhelmed, but still doing their best to keep Americans safe and enforce our laws. He stated, “Even though our pay has been cut and we are working in horrible conditions, Border Patrol agents are doing their best in a phenomenally difficult situation. We are trying to balance providing enough personnel to handle the influx in the holding facilities while still trying to keep enough agents on the line.”
“Since the CPB started reducing the hours agents can work, we have seen an overall increase in smuggling and illegal alien crossing,” he said. “The CBP is controlling the number of hours agents can work and we are desperately trying to keep enough agents in the field and still handle the processing of the illegal aliens we catch, but we are leaving vast swaths of the border unprotected.” He added, “The cartels know our limitations and our weak points and they are taking full advantage of them.”
Source Breitbart