African Migrant Apprehensions at Texas Border on the Rise

Del Rio Sector Border Patrol officials report a recent increase in the number of migrants from Africa being apprehended after illegally crossing from Mexico.

“During last summer, Del Rio Sector experienced an increase in arrests of people from countries in Africa,” Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul L. Ortiz said in a written statement. “These arrests decreased beginning in about August, but starting this fiscal year we have seen a resurgence in this demographic.”

Del Rio Sector agents apprehended 56 migrants last week from the continent, officials stated. The countries include migrants from Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congo, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.

So far this fiscal year, which began on October 1, Del Rio Sector agents apprehended about 300 migrants from 11 countries from Africa. During all of FY 2019, agents in this sector apprehended 1,211 from 19 different countries.

“Those who wish to enter the United States should do so through a Port of Entry, rather than put their families in the hands of smugglers and through the treacherous Rio Grande River,” Chief Ortiz said. “Not only are they traveling great distances but the danger they face crossing the border could lead to a deadly outcome.”

During a Monday morning press conference, acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan told reporters that Mexican cartels are changing their tactics in regards to human smuggling because the agency closed loopholes for Central American migrants. These changes led to 95 percent of Central American migrant families facing a legal consequence or being placed on a pathway for removal, Morgan explained.

“In FY20 to date, those apprehended by Border Patrol so far in Fiscal Year 20, more than 95 percent of the illegal aliens apprehended trying to illegally enter this country were subject to a legal consequence or a removal pathway,” the commissioner stated. “So it’s clear. Migrants who illegally enter cross the southwest border will be removed or returned and illegal border crossing caseloads are being resolved more expeditiously than ever before.”

He explained that the cartel-connected human smugglers are now reaching out across the globe to other demographics.

In July, Del Rio Sector officials reported the apprehension of more than 1,100 migrants from the African continent in just over two months, Breitbart Texas reported. The migrants present unique problems for Border Patrol agents who must care for their health and safety.

“The apprehension of people from African countries illegally crossing our borders continues to increase,” Chief Ortiz said at the time. “Our agents this year have encountered people from 51 countries other than Mexico including 19 countries from the continent of Africa.”

During a press call in June, Brian Hastings, U.S. Border Patrol Chief of Law Enforcement Operations, told reporters this was the first large group “ever recorded in Border Patrol history solely from Central and South Africa. We’ve never seen that demographic in a large group of that size before.”