{"id":24927,"date":"2021-08-24T12:11:14","date_gmt":"2021-08-24T16:11:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/?p=24927"},"modified":"2021-08-24T12:11:15","modified_gmt":"2021-08-24T16:11:15","slug":"border-patrol-understaffed-low-morale-immigrationreform-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2021\/08\/24\/border-patrol-understaffed-low-morale-immigrationreform-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Border Patrol: Paper Tiger at a Collapsing Frontier"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Up to half of Border Patrol personnel in Texas has been pulled from the field, with a record low 12 officers attempting to cover a busy 245-mile stretch<\/a> of the Rio Grande. As more agents are assigned to deskwork, \u201cmorale is in the toilet,\u201d says the Border Patrol\u2019s union. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf our\njob is to be out patrolling the border in between the ports of entry and\nactively searching for people who have crossed illegally, but we’re not allowed\nto go do that job, it basically creates this defeated feeling in everyone,\u201d said\nJon Anfinsen, president of the National Border Patrol Council local in Del Rio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking of defeatism, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas privately admitted that the situation is \u201cunsustainable.\u201d<\/a> In a leaked audio<\/a>, Mayorkas sounded like an incompetent general plotting retreat: \u201cIf our borders are the first line of defense, we’re going to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mayorkas\u2019s holistic argument that migration begins far from the southern border is valid, as far as it goes. But his palaver about \u201cpush\u201d factors<\/a> rings hollow as long as his department fails to deport<\/a> illegal border crossers and attempts to dismantle effective policies like the Remain in Mexico<\/a> program. Contrary to the secretary\u2019s claims, America\u2019s southern border is<\/em> open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An observer with the Center for Immigration Studies<\/a> recently drove through the sprawling Del Rio sector and saw a grand total of one Border Patrol vehicle on the road. But he did find more than a dozen units parked at the agency\u2019s headquarters in Brackettville.<\/p>\n\n\n\n