Speeches and Statements

“CBP is implementing new measures to impose consequences on transportation companies including bus and van lines used by smuggling organizations and nefarious actors to move migrants through northern Mexico and to our southwest border. The measures include specific law enforcement operations focused on transportation companies and their employees who are facilitating migrant smuggling activities.

“In response to increased levels of migrant encounters at the Southwest Border, fueled by smugglers peddling disinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals, CBP is surging all available resources to expeditiously and safely process migrants. CBP will continue to prioritize our border security mission as necessary in response to this evolving situation. 

“The U.S. is continuing to see increased levels of migrant encounters at the Southwest Border, fueled by smugglers peddling disinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals and encourage migration.  As we respond with additional resources and apply consequences for unlawful entry, the migration trends shift as well.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) held an engagement for non-governmental organizations on Wednesday, September 6 and Thursday, September 7.  Regular stakeholder engagements seek to promote transparency and accountability regarding CBP policies and operations.  This engagement focused on the status of the southwest border, an update on CBP’s body worn camera program, and CBP’s Integrity and Accountability Strategy. The Office of Professional Responsibility also discussed its mission and investigative authorities.

The U.S.

“I am deeply proud that four of our Senior Executives from across U.S. Customs and Border Protection were selected by the President of the United States to receive the prestigious 2023 Presidential Rank Award.   

On Oct. 12, 2023, at approximately 11:03 p.m., Border Patrol agents assigned to the U.S. Border Patrol Station in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, received a request for assistance from Department of Defense (DOD) personnel regarding a woman in medical distress near their assigned post approximately three miles east of the Santa Teresa Station. DOD personnel requested by radio that Emergency Medical Services respond to the location. The woman was later determined to be an undocumented migrant and citizen of Ecuador.

On Sept. 1, 2023, at approximately 5:15 a.m., Border Patrol agents assigned to the Santa Teresa, New Mexico, Border Patrol Station encountered a group of 22 undocumented migrants staged at a warehouse near the Union Pacific Intermodal Terminal in Santa Teresa. Multiple undocumented migrants informed agents during field interviews that an unresponsive woman had been left behind at approximately 8 p.m. the previous night near New Mexico Highway 9. Agents then began to search the trail on which the undocumented migrants had been traveling to locate the missing woman. 

On August 20, 2023, at approximately 9:35 p.m., Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) agents working in the Santa Teresa Station area of responsibility observed three individuals getting into a sedan at Mile Marker 2 on Strauss Road in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. BORTAC agents and Texas Department of Public Safety Criminal Investigative Division agents performed a vehicle stop on the sedan at the intersection of Executive Center Boulevard and Interstate Highway 10, in El Paso, Texas at approximately 9:50 p.m. 
 

On October 11, 2023, U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Imperial Beach Station were conducting line watch duties approximately 300 yards west of the San Ysidro Port of Entry on the north side of a levee that travels from Mexico into the United States at that location. While patrolling on the north side of the levee at approximately 5:15 a.m., an agent in a marked Border Patrol vehicle observed a group of undocumented migrants enter the United States through the Tijuana River channel.