According to U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens, migrant traffickers are taking advantage of vulnerabilities at the southern border as well as the focus that US officials place on responding to humanitarian crises.
Owens said that smugglers “absolutely are” setting the terms of engagement at the southern border in an interview that aired on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” adding, “They dictate what the flow is going to look like, and we respond to it.”
“Then we try and get out in front of it and deny them the ability to use these areas, especially ones that we think are going to be dangerous for us and for the migrants,” he said. “But at the end of the day, there’s over 1,900 miles of border with Mexico.”
He stated that even with 20,000 border patrol agents, it is impossible to staff the whole southern border simultaneously.
“The aim is that they will drive groups across, knowing that we will respond humanitarianly and ensure their safety. And while we’re busy doing this, what are they doing a few miles down the road?”
Owens believes the number of so-called got-aways—iindividuals who actively try to elude law enforcement and are not arrested for various reasons—iis the most concerning aspect of southern border security, calling it “a national security threat.”
“Border security is an important part of national security. And if we don’t know who is coming into our nation or what their intentions are, it poses a threat. And they are currently exploiting a vulnerability on our border,” Owens stated.
Owens stated that while he wishes migrants seeking entry into the United States at the southern border “would choose the right way to come into our country and not start off on the wrong foot,” he believes the majority of them “absolutely are by and large good people.” He stated that they continue to find a small number of migrants with criminal records among the larger numbers. Owens also expressed his biggest anxiety about the unknown.
“Most of the folks that we’re encountering that are turning themselves in, you know, they’re coming across because they’re either fleeing terrible conditions, or they’re economic migrants looking for a better way of life. It doesn’t make them bad people, it’s just that they’re not being respectful of the laws that we’ve established as a country, and they’re actually putting people in this country in harm’s way because they’re pulling the border security apparatus off of task,” Owens said.
