Developments
Police in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, reported seizing 14 kilograms of fentanyl pills in the crime-plagued neighborhood of Anapra, along the border with New Mexico, west of El Paso. This comes shortly after a local media report about a raid on a fentanyl lab in the same neighborhood.
This is notable because since 2019, 96 percent of CBP’s border-zone fentanyl seizures (71,883 of 74,953 pounds) have occurred in California and Arizona—far from the Ciudad Juárez area, which borders Texas and New Mexico.
- Julian Resendiz, “Police Seize 130,000 Fentanyl Pills Near Border Wall” (Border Report, October 15, 2024).
Aaron Heitke, who served as chief of Border Patrol’s San Diego Sector and is now retired, alleged in a recent congressional hearing that Biden administration officials had “pushed him” to hide groups of asylum-seeking migrants “out of sight” of cameras as they waited between layers of the border wall to turn themselves in.
A Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official speaking on background to Voice of San Diego denied Heitke’s allegations. Lilian Serrano of the Southern Border Communities Coalition said that Heitke’s claim confirmed humanitarian groups’ suspicions that Border Patrol “hides migrants from our view…so that we don’t see violations” of policies for humane treatment of people waiting to turn themselves in.
- Kate Morrissey, “Border Report: San Diego’s Ex-Border Patrol Chief Says He Was Pressured to Hide Migrants” (Voice of San Diego, October 15, 2024).
The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed 50 percent more cases against people for migrant smuggling in Arizona during July-September than it did during January-March, at a time of sharply reduced migrant apprehensions overall, reported Arizona Public Media.
- Danyelle Khmara, “Human Smuggling Charges in Arizona Increase While Border Apprehensions Drop” (Arizona Public Media, October 15, 2024).
Analyses and Feature Stories
The Colombian government’s Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office reported from the beginning of the route through the Darién Gap that, under organized crime dictates, migrants must pay US$350 each for boat fare, lodging, and “guides” on the Colombian side of the trail.
- “Varados en Playas del Golfo de Uraba: La Cruda Realidad de las Personas Migrantes” (Defensoria del Pueblo (Government of Colombia), October 15, 2024).
EFE reported on the reduction in migration at the U.S.-Mexico border due to Mexico’s crackdown on in-transit migration and the Biden administration’s restrictions on asylum access. “Now, usually very few people arrive. For the most part, they are unaware that you use a (mobile) app to make an appointment and get an interview to request asylum,” said Pedro Ríos of the American Friends Service Committee. Ríos pointed out, however, that the wait time for appointments at ports of entry using the CBP One app can be eight or nine months.
- Manuel Ocano, ““Los Rios de Gente” Desaparecieron en la Frontera de ee.uu. Con Mexico” (EFE, Yahoo!, October 15, 2024).
Palabra explored the struggles of migrants seeking to integrate into life and the economy in Chicago, focusing on the story of a family who fled Venezuela, could not settle firmly in Colombia, and then traveled through the Darién Gap to the U.S.-Mexico border in El Paso.
- Alma Campos, “In Chicago, Immigrants Who Fled Violence and War Struggle With Their Mental Health” (Palabra, October 16, 2024).
Snopes examined the role that Kamala Harris has played in migration and border policy as Vice President. The site noted that claims Harris served as a “border czar” are “misleading,” as they “often conflate her role in addressing the root causes of migration with direct border security responsibilities.”
- Nikki Dobrin, “Was Vp Harris Ever Appointed Us ‘Border Czar’? It’s Complicated” (Snopes, October 15, 2024).
“Latinx artists and storytellers are creating their own narratives about the border as a vibrant and rich landscape,” reads a profile of borderland artists Favianna Rodríguez, Jenea Sánchez, Gabriela Muñoz, and Pita Juárez in The 19th.
- Jessica Kutz, “These Latinx Creators Are Challenging Border Narratives Through Art and Storytelling” (The 19th, October 15, 2024).
On the Right
- Kevin Roberts, “It Is Time to Stop Allocating Fema Funding to Illegal Immigrants” (Heritage Foundation, The American Conservative, October 16, 2024).
- Jennie Taer, “Border Patrol Agents Threaten to Leave in Droves if Kamala Harris Wins: ‘Not Doing This S–T Again’” (The New York Post, October 15, 2024).
- Justin Gest, “Liberals’ Pivot on Border Control Is Now Complete” (George Mason University, Newsweek, October 15, 2024).