Illegal crossings on the US southern border have hit a 20-year high under the Biden administration, with another record-setting month in July, which saw about 210,000 migrant encounters, according to preliminary data from Customers and Border Patrol (CBP). The total number of apprehensions in the region since October - the beginning of the US government’s fiscal year - has now surpassed 1.3 million.
Cabrera, who works in the Rio Grande Valley sector in south Texas, which is the busiest region along the southern border, said "hundreds of thousands" of those apprehended have been released because of current legal provisions.
"The vast majority of people who are coming across [the border], regardless of what the reports say… are getting released one way or another," Cabrera, whose organization is the labor union that represents agents and personnel assigned to US Border Patrol, said. "We have the manpower but it's just that it's tied up with this ‘catch and release’ system… what we need is for politicians to get on the ball here and close the loophole."
The so-called catch and release system requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to release certain asylum-seeking migrants from US custody pending their immigration court proceedings. Migrants released into the community pending their court hearings are usually considered low risk, such as children and families.
"Had this been a tax loophole, this thing would've closed the first year," Cabrera said. "This thing has been going on since 2013, people exploiting the asylum system. So that's what needs to be done, people need to stop looking at these folks crossing as a political tool."
Cabrera said nearly all the migrants arrested in the Rio Grande Valley sector are being released in the United States.
"Very few, at least in this area, get sent back - it's only single adults that get sent back for the most part," he said.
Overall, Cabrera said the situation has gotten progressively worse on numerous fronts, pointing to record number of border encounters that has continually spiked since January.
"People are coming because of word-of-mouth advertising and then the dangers are worse right now with the heat," he said. "Then the criminal elements are seeing more and more ways to exploit these people and make money."
Asylum-seeking migrant families arrive to the bank of the Rio Grande river on an inflatable raft after crossing into the United States from Mexico in Roma, Texas, U.S., July 9, 2021.
© REUTERS / GO NAKAMURA
Recently, CBP has had some 8,000 to 10,000 migrants in custody in the Rio Grande Valley sector that agents are trying to process, Cabrera said.
"I've never seen it this busy. We still have tons of people that are just getting away from us that are trying to avoid detection because they know that they have a criminal history and if they get caught it's not going to go well for them here, but we don't have the manpower to go after them because our hands are tied with the people that are turning themselves in," Cabrera said.
Within the past two weeks alone, he added, they apprehended more than 41,000, the same number seen nationwide in July of 2020.
The border patrol agent also warned against making the trip in the first place, considering many have been murdered, beaten, and kidnapped for money. Meanwhile, migrant children, he added, suffer on the treacherous journey from Central America to the United States, exposing them to sexual predators and other dangers.
"People with no heart have found a way - the criminal element - to exploit these people that are trying to make a better life and the United States has this sense of false hope that if you get here, if you run this gauntlet and if you survive we'll give you free stuff - the reward isn't worth a life," Cabrera said.
Cabrera pointed out that migrants coming through the US-Mexico border are not just from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. There have been migrants apprehended who represent 160 countries from all over the world, including Asia, Africa, and Europe.
He also opposed President Joe Biden’s decision to end construction of the southern border wall, a move which prompted Texas to begin building it themselves and trying to secure the border with state resources.
Cabrera said the Biden administration should seriously consider building additional wall in areas along the US-Mexico border that will help deter migrants trying to sneak into the United States.
"The border wall is good for [deterring] people that are trying to avoid detection," Cabrera said. "We do have a big problem with people trying to avoid detection. The border wall works very, very well and that's something that needs to be continued on."
Cabrera said the federal government should prioritize securing the border completely before trying to tackle comprehensive immigration reform. He also said it is unfortunate that the state of Texas has to step up and do what the federal government will not.
"As a Texan, I'm glad to see that's done. As a federal agent, it's kind of sad that DHS has not taken the problem seriously but the people of Texas are serious about it," the border patrol union executive said.
Local residents and ranchers are tired of migrants damaging crops or having their belongings robbed, Cabrera said.
"They want some sense of normalcy and security in their life," Cabrera said.