Migrant Detentions at Border Hit Record Highs as Title 42 Ends

Border: Some - like 40-year-old Jovanna Gomez from Colombia - decided to try their luck crossing now after hearing about the U.S. policy change.
Some - like 40-year-old Jovanna Gomez from Colombia - decided to try their luck crossing now after hearing about the U.S. policy change. "In my country, you hear that immigration will only be allowed until May 11, so we came racing against the clock," she said. "It wasn't easy." (Screenshot courtesy of YouTube)

May 11, 2023 – In Breaking News – REUTERS

Migrants gathered on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border on Thursday hours before immigration restrictions known as Title 42 expire, with some rushing to cross ahead of tough new asylum rules that will replace the COVID-era order.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has in recent days been holding up to 28,000 migrants at its facilities, far beyond its stated capacity and in what appeared to be a record, two federal officials requesting anonymity and the Border Patrol’s union said.

The busiest border detention facilities are in the Rio Grande Valley and El Paso in Texas and two areas in Arizona, according to union President Brandon Judd.

This week, the number of people caught crossing illegally surpassed 10,000 per day.

(National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd claims they haven’t been briefed by the Biden administration on a post-Title 42 border security plan. Courtesy of FOX Business and YouTube. Posted on May 10, 2023.)

Due to the high volume of arrivals, agents were releasing some migrants without a notice to appear in immigration court where they can make an asylum claim, and are telling them to report to an immigration office later, Judd said.

On average, people are spending nearly three days in custody, Judd said. CBP did not respond to a request for comment.

In Yuma, Arizona, hundreds of migrants lined up in the chilly hours before dawn at a gap in the towering border fence, waiting to turn themselves in to U.S. agents.

(A throng of migrants lined up on the American side of the Rio Grande in Texas ahead of the midnight expiration of Title 42, the pandemic-era rule that allowed the US to rapidly deport nearly all asylum-seekers at the US-Mexico border. Courtesy of Reuters and YouTube. Posted on May 11, 2023.)

Some – like 40-year-old Jovanna Gomez from Colombia – decided to try their luck crossing now after hearing about the U.S. policy change.

“In my country, you hear that immigration will only be allowed until May 11, so we came racing against the clock,” she said. “It wasn’t easy.”

Under Title 42, in place since March 2020 and set to expire at midnight, hundreds of thousands of migrants have been quickly expelled to Mexico.

But because Mexico only accepted the return of certain nationalities – mostly their own citizens and Central Americans, and more recently Venezuelans, Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans – migrants from other countries have largely been allowed in to pursue their immigration claims.

Continue reading… Migrant detentions at US-Mexico border hit record highs as Title 42 ends

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Recognized in 2022 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Honored at 2022 'ASTORS' Homeland Security Awards Ceremony and Banquet Luncheon in New York City.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Honored at 2022 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Ceremony and Banquet Luncheon in New York City.

American Security Today’s Annual ‘ASTORS’ Awards is the preeminent U.S. Homeland Security Awards Program, and now in its Eighth Year, continues to recognize industry leaders of Physical and Border Security, Cybersecurity, Emergency Preparedness – Management and Response, Law Enforcement, First Responders, as well as federal, state and municipal government agencies in the acknowledgment of their outstanding efforts to Keep our Nation Secure.

 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations (First of Three)

Travelers should download the free CBP One™ app on their web-enabled smart device. Note that a free login.gov account is required to use CBP One™. After opening the CBP One™ app, tap “Sign In with Login.gov.” (Courtesy of CBP)
Travelers should download the free CBP One™ app on their web-enabled smart device. Note that a free login.gov account is required to use CBP One™. After opening the CBP One™ app, tap “Sign In with Login.gov.” (Courtesy of CBP)

Excellence in Homeland Security

  • CBP One™

  • U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) developed CBP One™, a mobile application to serve as a single portal for travelers and stakeholders to interact virtually with CBP.

  • More importantly, this platform served as a vital tool to combat the impact of the influx of undocumented non-citizens at the southern border.

  • CBP One™ consolidates OFO’s mobile application development within a single platform for travelers and stakeholders to interact virtually with CBP, and direct each user to the appropriate travel or trade services based on their needs.

CBP One™ is a mobile application that serves as a single portal to a variety of CBP services. Through a series of guided questions, the app will direct each user to the appropriate travel or trade services based on their needs. (Courtesy of CBP)
CBP One™ is a mobile application that serves as a single portal to a variety of CBP services. Through a series of guided questions, the app will direct users to the appropriate travel or trade services based on their needs. (Courtesy of CBP)
  • This initiative was particularly innovative in that the new approach created the most agile mobile platform that empowered CBP to quickly implement vital services to ensure efficient Ports of Entry (POE) Operations, enhanced services for travelers, and provided unprecedented transparency for stakeholders.

  • The CBP One™ platform was developed to be highly adaptable to implement new capabilities quickly by leveraging core capabilities such as document scanning, video conference licenses, liveness verification, facial matching, global positioning services (GPS), and plug-ins for interactive messaging.

  • These capabilities, combined with an agile approach to operational analysis, requirements development, and programming, have resulted in significantly reduced timelines for implementing new capabilities.

 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations (Second of Three)

As of April 2022 all Global Entry kiosks have been upgraded to utilize facial comparison technology. This new process has reduced the time it takes an average traveler to use the Global Entry kiosk to fewer than 5 seconds. (Courtesy of CBP)
As of April 2022 all Global Entry kiosks have been upgraded to utilize facial comparison technology. This new process has reduced the time it takes an average traveler to use the Global Entry kiosk to fewer than 5 seconds. (Courtesy of CBP)

Excellence in Homeland Security

  • Global Entry (GE) Modernization Initiative

  • Global Entry (GE), is a CBP program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States. Members enter the United States through automatic kiosks at select airports.

  • At airports, program members proceed to Global Entry kiosks, present their machine-readable passport or U.S. permanent resident card, place their fingerprints on the scanner for fingerprint verification and complete a customs declaration.

  • The kiosk issues the traveler a transaction receipt and directs the traveler to baggage claim and exit.

(See how the Global Entry (GE) process continues innovating the arrival experience, offering members a streamlined and increasingly contactless processing experience. Courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and YouTube. Posted on Mar 29, 2022.)

  • CBP began the Global Entry Modernization Initiative in 2018, with the first step involving integrating facial comparison technology into the Global Entry arrival experience.

Facial comparison provides a faster and more secure experience for trusted travelers by automating the comparison of the traveler to their document photo. (Courtesy of CBP)
Facial comparison provides a faster and more secure experience for trusted travelers by automating the comparison of the traveler to their document photo. (Courtesy of CBP)
  • This process was greatly accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, and as of April 2022 all Global Entry kiosks have been upgraded to utilize facial comparison technology.

  • Facial comparison provides a faster and more secure experience for trusted travelers by automating the comparison of the traveler to their document photo.

  • The next step of this Global Entry modernization has been moving airports towards a receipt-less, and touchless process.

(Hear from DEAC Sabatino, and see how the Global Entry (GE) process continues innovating the arrival experience, offering members a streamlined and increasingly contactless processing experience. Courtesy of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and YouTube. Posted on Mar 29, 2022.)

  • During Fiscal Year 2022, CBP upgraded kiosks at 16 airports to no longer issue a receipt, meaning that for the Global Entry traveler, the new process is faster, with fewer touchpoints, and better protects their privacy.

 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations (Third of Three)

CBP OFO Officers accept Three 2022 'Excellence in Homeland Security' Awards at the 2022 'ASTORS' Awards Ceremony and Banquet Luncheon in New York City.
CBP OFO Officers accept Three 2022 ‘Excellence in Homeland Security’ Awards at the 2022 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Ceremony and Banquet Luncheon in New York City.

Excellence in Homeland Security

CBP K9 Team Zaskya Steros and TYKE, with Commissioner Bill Bratton at the 2022 'ASTORS' Awards Luncheon.
CBP K9 Team Zaskya Steros and TYKE, with Commissioner Bill Bratton at the 2022 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Luncheon.
  • However, a CBP drug detection dog alerted to the trailer, and a total of 7,976.20 kilograms (17,584.33 pounds) of Methamphetamine and 176.42 kilograms (388.94 pounds) of Fentanyl Pills were discovered by the CBP Officers whose diligence and outstanding enforcement performance resulted in this discovery of the largest fentanyl seizure in history, to date.

  • Securing U.S. borders — by air, land, and sea — is central to our national security.

  • Even as efforts continue to expand the zone of security away from the physical borders of our nation, highly adaptive criminal networks attempt to exploit vulnerabilities in enforcement capabilities between the ports of entry.

  • At the ports, criminals attempt to conceal their activities within the legitimate flow of trade and travel. Between the ports of entry, human and narcotic traffickers exploit gaps in terrain access, visual surveillance, and deterrence infrastructure.

CBP
Courtesy of CBP and Twitter
  • Trade is growing at an unprecedented rate, and CBP is charged with facilitating lawful trade, creating a level playing field for American businesses, protecting consumers, and reducing business costs.

  • With the value of imports nearing $3 trillion, the amount of international trade crossing U.S. borders has never been higher.  An important part of this volume is entering via e-commerce channels, express couriers, and international mail, but no longer primarily via air. 

  • E-commerce shipments are entering the U.S. via trucks, trains, ocean vessels, and airplanes.  Global supply chains have transformed in the past few decades, making it harder to trace products back to their original source and to pinpoint responsibility across the network of parties involved.

Hear directly from (DEAC) Diane Sabatino in this exclusive interview from the Awards Ceremony, facilitated by Dr. Kathleen Kiernan, President of NEC National Security Systems (NSS), our 2022 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program Platinum Sponsor, who has been recognized for its Fifth Consecutive Year in the ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program.

(U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations (OFO) Deputy Executive Assistant Commissioner (DEAC) Diane Sabatino, at the 2022 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Luncheon in NYC. Courtesy of AST, My Pristine Images, and Vimeo.)

 

(Learn More about the CBP and their partnerships in securing our nation, in this American Security Today exclusive interview with Frank Russo, Director of Field Operations for New York and New Jersey, facilitated by Dr. Kathleen Kiernan, President of NEC National Security Systems (NSS). Courtesy of AST, My Pristine Images, and YouTub.)

  • The world continues to change, in more dynamic ways than ever.  CBP remains committed to meeting existing and emerging challenges head-on.

  • CBP was also recognized in the 2019, 2018, and 2017 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Programs, respectively. USBP was recognized in the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Program.

Learn More…

Preparing for Migrants at US-Mexico Border: Title 42 Ends (New ICE GPS)