In 2021, Border Patrol agents tasked with patrolling the nine southwest border sectors apprehended roughly 1,929,000 migrants who unlawfully crossed the border between ports of entry.
Per official U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reports, agents apprehended 1,773,674 unlawful migrants in the first 11 months of 2021.
On top of that, a Border Patrol source revealed to Breitbart News allegedly a minimum of 428,000 unlawful migrants were reported as “got aways.”
The Border Patrol updates the got-away number daily. Allegedly, the data is entered into a record system that agency leaders can easily access, but the Department of Homeland Security does not usually release the metric.
The way Border Patrol determines the metric is by counting unlawful migrants who elude apprehension after aircraft and camera systems observe them.
Bob Price and Randy Clark of Breitbart News opined that the number of got aways was likely much higher in 2021 based on the constant flow of unlawful migrants being caught along the southern border, hindering the agency’s ability to guard miles of the border properly.
When the actual apprehension totals and got aways are combined, approximately 2.4 million migrants unlawfully crossed the border between ports of entry in 2020.
The increased number of unlawful entries into the country was also accompanied by many of their deaths in Texas counties along the border.
For example, in Brooks County, Texas, 129 of these migrants died in 2021. Brooks County is located approximately 80 miles north of Texas’ border with Mexico.
According to information Breitbart News obtained from sheriff’s officials, the death totals marked a roughly 280% increase from 2020.
“This was a horrible year for migrant deaths in our county,” Sheriff Benny Martinez said to Breitbart Texas on January 3. “Last year, we only found the bodies or remains of 34 migrants. This year, that jumped to at least 129 migrants who died in our county. It’s been the worst year since 2012.”
Amongst these deaths were ten individuals who died in a smuggling crash that took place on U.S. Highway 281 close to Encino, Texas. The region is known for being a drop-off area where those who smuggle unlawful migrants through ranches can bypass the Falfurrias Border Patrol Checkpoint.
“This was a perfect example of the callous nature of human smugglers,” Sheriff Martinez stated. “They packed thirty people into a van built to carry half that. The driver couldn’t control the overloaded van, and ten people died as a result.”
“The coyotes could [not] care less about the lives of the people they move through Brooks County,” he added. “They march them through the ranches here in the cold of winter or the heat of summer. If a migrant falls behind, gets injured or sick, they just leave them behind to die.”
“The governor’s initiative has been a good move for Texas,” Martinez commented, alluding to Gov. Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star. “We must go back to building the wall, adding technology, and putting Border Patrol agents back to work. We must secure the border.”