During a recent interview, Lt. Christopher Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety asserted that the Biden administration does not have the policy to deal with the impending wave of illegal aliens that will be crossing the southern border if Title 42 is lifted.
Appearing on Newsmax’s “American Agenda,” Olivarez expressed concern that up to 15,000 individuals per day may try to cross the U.S.-Mexico border — which would put significant strain on Border Patrol resources and leave the border vulnerable to drug cartels and human smugglers.
“You’re going to pull federal resources even more now, [taking] Border Patrol agents from the line to process [illegal aliens],” the Texas official said. “That’s going to leave checkpoints unmanned. That’s going to provide more opportunities. More vulnerabilities along the border, where the Mexican cartels can continue to smuggle more drugs, more criminals.”
“Human smuggling is going to increase, and it’s all because of the fact that there’s no policies in place,” Olivarez added. “And this is going to pull more resources, more viable resources from the border to conduct administrative duties.”
Title 42, a Trump-era public health policy that allowed the quick deportation of many illegal aliens at the border as part of an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, was set to be lifted on December 21 due to a judge’s ruling. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts delayed that order last week, extending the policy after 19 Republican-led states filed a petition to preserve Title 42.
Meanwhile, record numbers of illegal aliens have been crossing the southern border — with Customs and Border Patrol reporting a record 233,740 encounters at the border in November.
BREAKING: A huge migrant caravan of over 1,000 people crossed illegally into El Paso, TX last night, making it the largest single group we have ever seen. The city of El Paso reports Border Patrol now has over 5,000 in custody & has released hundreds to city streets. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/ewUQX757Lt
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) December 12, 2022
“Historically, the months of November, December, during the holiday months have always been low in terms of encounters,” Olivarez noted. “With this current crisis, that has been quite the opposite. We’re seeing record number after record number, not just encounters but also got-aways, drugs that are coming across our border, as well.”
The Texas official went on to say that, even with Title 42 in place, the percentage of illegal aliens being deported back to Mexico is small compared to the number being released into the United States.
“Over the Christmas holiday, there were over 16,400 encounters throughout the various sectors along the border,” he said. “Of those, 2,100 were expelled under Title 42. Another 14,300 were released into the country. So, it really goes to show you that even without a Title 42 in place, the federal government is still mass-releasing people into the interior of our country.”
BREAKING: CBP sources tell FOX News over Christmas weekend – 12/23 – Sun 12/25 – 16,476 Total Encounters – of which 2,150 were expelled under T42 – 14,326 being released…
Broken down by sector:Del Rio – 4,144
El Paso – 3,333
Yuma – 2,577
RGV – 2,385
@FoxNews— Griff Jenkins (@GriffJenkins) December 26, 2022
Olivarez also noted that border enforcement under President Joe Biden pales in comparison to enforcement under former President Donald Trump.
“The numbers speak for themselves,” he said. “Prior to 2021, we had the record low as far as encounters in the highest enforcement action taken [by] the federal government. And then once 2021 came into play with the new leadership, we saw a complete opposite, where every effective policy tour strategy was completely reversed and canceled.”
