Latest news with #illegalcrossings
Fox News
28-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Texas border sheriff says illegal crossings have seen ‘dramatic decline' as CA migrant center shuts down
A Texas sheriff, whose county shares 54 miles of the U.S. southern border with Mexico, told Fox News Digital he has seen a "dramatic decline" in illegal migrant crossings since President Donald Trump took office, specifically, a sharp decrease in the last two weeks. "Since President Trump took over, we have seen a continued decline in apprehensions," Terrell County Sheriff Thaddeus Cleveland told Fox. "This past two-week period, we should have been busier because it coincides with the full moon cycle, that's usually when we see more activity in our area." The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) revealed earlier this month that April year-over-year apprehensions at the border were down 93%. CBP reported 129,000 apprehensions in April 2024 under the Biden administration, compared to 8,383 this past month under Trump. "You know, during the Biden administration, we saw, just like the rest of the U.S.-Mexico border, record levels of crossings and gotaways in our county," Cleveland explained. "We also saw record levels of deaths from people trying to enter the United States. So that was definitely a challenge for us when you talk about the 10th largest county in the state of Texas, just over 2300 square miles, 54 miles of river." Trump border czar Tom Homan weighed in on the dramatic decrease in illegal crossings, telling Fox News Digital last week that the U.S. border "is the most secure in the nation's history." "The way we did it, that we got a president in the White House, a strong president, who simply ruled a lot of [Executive Orders], the same [Executive Orders] that were proved effective in Trump 45, remain in Mexico, third state country agreements, ending catch and release, and continue building border barriers," Homan told Fox. Cleveland's comments come days after a San Diego immigrant center shut down due to an "unprecedented decrease in illegal crossings this year." "In 3/2025, San Diego Sector arrested 1,199 illegal aliens with an average of 38 per day. This was a 186% drop compared to 3/2024," the U.S. Border Patrol San Diego Sector posted to X on Sunday. Cleveland noted there might be additional facility closures if illegal crossing numbers continue to plummet. "As the border activity becomes slower and we see less and less crossings, we're starting to see Border Patrol close more of these south side of facilities," the Texas sheriff added. "We don't have any out here in our area of West Texas. The closest one we had was down in Eagle Pass." "There's no reason to spend that money to keep those open, and they can definitely use that money in other parts of the border." Preston Mizell is a writer with Fox News Digital covering breaking news. Story tips can be sent to and on X @MizellPreston
Fox News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Republican AGs visit US-Mexico border wall as Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' clears expansion funding
YUMA, ARIZ. – Republican attorneys general from 11 states visited the U.S.-Mexico border wall in remote Yuma, Arizona, this week, touting a more than 90% decrease in illegal crossings since President Donald Trump began his second term. Their visit came a day before the House narrowly passed Trump's "big, beautiful bill," which in part allocates $46.5 billion to revive construction of the wall, which at its current stage covers just a quarter of the approximately 1,900-mile-long stretch separating the United States from Mexico. In Yuma, a city of just 110,000 people, local officials briefed the Republican attorneys general of Kansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, South Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Alabama, Montana, Iowa and Indiana on how an average of 1,500 people were illegally crossing the border a day during the first six months of the Biden administration. That's dropped to about four daily illegal crossings since Trump took office. In addition to the border wall itself, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach -- chairman of the Republican Attorneys General Association – told Fox News Digital the administration needs other "force multipliers," especially with the task of carrying out the "largest interior removal since the Eisenhower administration." He announced an additional three GOP states entered into 287(G) agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which means local and state deputies and officers are trained to exercise federal law enforcement powers, including making immigration-related arrests, initiating removal processes, conducting investigations and tapping into ICE databases. "The thing the Trump administration needs the most right now is force multipliers," Kobach said. "Even if we doubled the number of Border Patrol agents at ICE stations, we still wouldn't have enough. This border wall, which I'm looking at, is one force multiplier at the border. The other big force multiplier is state and local law enforcement signing 287(g) agreements and then helping ICE in the interior. And that's where the red states are leading the way." South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said 540 kilograms of fentanyl and 850 kilograms of cocaine were trafficked into the Palmetto State, originating from Mexican drug cartels. One kilo alone is enough to kill half a million people. "This is the kind of stuff that keeps me up at night. I have two teenage kids in high school. When you hear about parents losing a kid in an overdose, it really strikes at your core. And so it's not just about law enforcement, it's about national security," Wilson told Fox News Digital. "As a 29-year veteran of the Army, an Iraq war veteran. I think in terms of national security, as well as law enforcement. This right here, what happens here, President Trump's policies here have empowered local law enforcement and local and state prosecutors like myself to be able to more effectively combat the illicit activity, starting with Mexican drug cartels and gangs like Tren de Aragua." Wilson said it is important to fortify a "digital border," noting how Mexican drug cartels, Chinese nationals and other illicit criminal organizations launder the proceeds of human and drug trafficking and other crimes using platforms such as WeChat. Wilson has partnered with North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson, a Democrat, and attorneys general from four other states in a bipartisan effort to target the Chinese app allegedly linked to the international fentanyl trade. The 11 Republican attorneys general in Yuma highlighted the importance of making the trip to the southern border despite their home states not directly bordering Mexico. Under the Biden administration, the Republicans argued that every state became a border state with the trafficking of fentanyl and other deadly drugs, as well as people across the border. "In the dark days of the Biden administration, this part of the border saw 1,500 illegal crossings a day. Today? Just four. That's leadership," Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman said. "In Kentucky, we lost 1,400 lives last year to drugs coming over this border. That's not abstract—it's empty chairs at kitchen tables. I'm here to thank the men and women who wear the badge, who've made this border secure again." "Alabama may not be a border state, but we've seen the cost of an open border – fentanyl deaths, rising crime. The difference now? It's not the law that changed, it's the leadership," Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said. "Border encounters are down 93%, gotaways down 95%. That's the result of letting immigration enforcement do their jobs. We're no longer the last line of defense—we're partners in restoring the rule of law." "When federal officials can't do their jobs, every state becomes a border state—even Indiana," Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita said. "We were the first non-border state to sue the Biden administration over its lawless immigration policies. Now, under new leadership, morale at the border has skyrocketed. I'm here not just for our law enforcement, but for the teachers overwhelmed by the fallout, for the parents and professionals caught in a broken system. Enough is enough." A stop on the tour included seeing pallets of $2 million worth of border wall supplies paid for under Trump's first term that the Biden administration prevented federal contractors from erecting – something Kobach categorized as "dereliction of duty" and "deliberate efforts to keep our border open." The Republican attorneys general also heard from the local hospital system, which incurred $26 million in unreimbursed care costs during a six-month period between December 2021 and May 2022 primarily due to treating migrants. At the peak of the crisis, approximately 350,000 illegal aliens crossed the border through the Yuma sector in a single year under the Biden administration. The surge caused $1.2 million in losses to three family farms in the region, as migrants camped out and defecated around crops. Local officials underscored the national food security risks, given that Yuma produces 2,500 semi-loads of leafy greens per day during peak season. The Marine Top Gun School brings thousands more U.S. Marines to Yuma every six months, but live-fire drills had to be shut down due to the surge in illegal crossings near ranges, local officials told the attorneys general, highlighting how military readiness was also impacted due to the Biden border crisis.
Telegraph
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Migrant crossings to hit record high, warns leading data scientist
Illegal Channel crossings by migrants are on course to hit a record total this year, according to new modelling. Based on current weather trends, researcher Dr Richard Wood has forecast arrivals will hit nearly 46,000 this year, which will be on a par with 2022's record and 20 per cent up on last year's total. A data scientist specialising in forecasts for real world scenarios, Dr Wood has drawn up modelling based on key factors that influence the number of crossings including weather and sea conditions, Government policies and illegal migration into the EU over the past five years. His modelling, based on data from 2020 to 2024, has already accurately forecast the record crossings this year. He predicted 12,074 by May 15. The Home Office figure for the same day was 12,699, 31 per cent up on last year. If the weather stays favourable, his modelling says it will hit 45,651 this year, equalling 2022's record of 45,755. 'If such a trend continues, we would expect between 45,000 and 50,000 crossings this year,' said Dr Wood, who has a PhD in maths and has published 50 peer-reviewed academic papers, mostly on statistical modelling real world scenarios. Such record numbers would increase pressure on Sir Keir Starmer, who has pledged to 'smash the gangs' through his new border security command with new counter-terror style powers and multi-national agreements to curb the supply of migrants, boats and equipment. It comes as two migrants died on Wednesday attempting to cross the Channel in a boat packed with 80 people. Net migration figures, to be published by the Office for National Statistics, are, however, expected to show a significant fall from its current 728,000 after a crackdown on work and study visas. Dr Wood believed his statistical modelling could enable policymakers to understand and so plan for the 'complex interactions' between all the many factors that could drive the number of crossings. If the favourable weather continues this year and there is high, above average illegal immigration into the EU, his modelling projected the total could rise to 54,903. If these factors were then combined with a low rejection rate for asylum seekers in the UK, the total would increase to 65,337, 44 per cent higher than 2022.
The Independent
20-05-2025
- The Independent
People smuggler who ‘managed' £12m boat crossings jailed for 25 years
A UK-based people smuggler who helped 'ruthlessly and cynically' exploit migrants as part of a £12 million illegal boat crossing operation has been jailed for 25 years. Egyptian-born Ahmed Ebid, 42, helped organise the movement of nearly 3,800 migrants – including women and children – on just seven fishing boat crossings from North Africa to Italy between October 2022 and June 2023 and some of them made their way to Britain, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said. Ebid even told an associate to kill and throw into the sea any migrants caught with phones, in a bid to avoid law enforcement, the NCA said – all while he was living in Isleworth, south-west London. The defendant, who is believed to be the first person convicted of organising boat crossings across the Mediterranean from the UK, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday to 25 years, having pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. Judge Adam Hiddleston said that Ebid had a 'significant managerial role within an organised crime group' and that his 'primary motivation was to make money out of human trafficking'. The judge told Ebid the 'conspiracy that you were a part of generated millions of pounds' and that he must have been a 'beneficiary' of 'a significant amount'. He added that the 'truly staggering' amount of money came from the 'hard-earned savings of desperate individuals', who were 'ruthlessly and cynically exploited' by Ebid and the crime group. Ebid arrived in the UK in October 2022 after crossing the Channel in a small boat having been sentenced in Italy in 2017 to a total of six years and two months in prison for drug smuggling. Soon after he began arranging the operations in the Mediterranean. He was working with people smuggling networks to organise boats, bringing over hundreds of migrants at a time on extremely dangerous vessels from Libya and advertising the crossings on Facebook. Ebid sourced and provided boats and crews, provided technical advice during the crossings, helped house migrants, and dealt with any required paperwork, prosecutors said. In one conversation with an associate, recorded via a listening device planted by NCA officers, he said that migrants were not to carry phones with them on his boats. He said: 'Tell them guys anyone caught with a phone will be killed, threw in the sea.' One crossing on October 25 2022 saw more than 640 migrants rescued by the Italian authorities after they attempted to cross in a wooden boat, the NCA said. It was taken into port in Sicily and two bodies were recovered. In another, 265 migrants were rescued by the Italian coastguard from a 20-metre fishing boat found adrift in the Mediterranean in early December 2022 after it left Benghazi. Two search and rescue operations occurred in April 2023 after distress calls to the coastguard and in each case more than 600 migrants were on board the boats, the NCA said. Ebid helped with at least seven separate crossings which carried 3,781 people into Italian waters. Each migrant had been charged an average of around £3,200, netting those involved £12.3 million, the NCA said. Ebid was detained in Isleworth in June 2023 after the NCA, along with the Italian Guardia di Finanza and the Italian coastguard, linked him to the crossings. On a phone seized from him, investigators found pictures of boats, conversations about the possible purchase of vessels, videos of migrants making the journey, and screenshots of money transfers. Tim Burton, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'Ahmed Ebid played a leading role in a sophisticated operation, which breached immigration laws and endangered lives, for his own and others' financial gain. 'Vulnerable people were transported on long sea journeys in ill-equipped fishing vessels completely unsuitable for carrying the large number of passengers who were on board. 'His repeated involvement in helping to facilitate these dangerous crossings showed a complete disregard for the safety of thousands of people, whose lives were put at serious risk.' Jacque Beer of the NCA said: 'Ebid was part of a crime network who preyed upon the desperation of migrants to ship them across the Mediterranean in death trap boats. 'The cruel nature of his business was demonstrated by the callous way he spoke of throwing migrants into the sea if they didn't follow his rules. 'To him they were just a source of profit. 'He was based in the UK but organising crossings from North Africa. 'A proportion of those he moved to Italy would also have ended up in northern Europe, attempting to cross the Channel to the UK.'
The Independent
20-05-2025
- The Independent
Man who helped smuggle thousands of migrants into Europe jailed for 25 years
A UK-based people smuggler who helped exploit migrants as part of a £12 million illegal boat crossing operation has been jailed for 25 years. Egyptian-born Ahmed Ebid, 42, helped organise the movement of nearly 3,800 migrants – including women and children – on just seven fishing boat crossings from North Africa to Italy between October 2022 and June 2023. Some of them made their way to Britain, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said. Ebid told an associate to kill and throw into the sea any migrants caught with phones, in a bid to avoid law enforcement, the NCA said. He ran this operation from his home in Isleworth, south-west London. The defendant, who is believed to be the first person convicted of organising boat crossings across the Mediterranean from the UK, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday to 25 years, having pleaded guilty to conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration. Judge Adam Hiddleston said that Ebid had a 'significant managerial role within an organised crime group' and that his 'primary motivation was to make money out of human trafficking '. The judge told Ebid the 'conspiracy that you were a part of generated millions of pounds' and that he must have been a 'beneficiary' of 'a significant amount'. He added that the 'truly staggering' amount of money came from the 'hard-earned savings of desperate individuals', who were 'ruthlessly and cynically exploited' by Ebid and the crime group.
