5:36
There are three migrant caravans headed to the United States’ southern border with Mexico, according to top Pentagon official John Rood.
Rood testified to the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that one of the caravans contains over 12,000 migrants.
“Current information shows that a caravan of over 12,000 people — there’s three that we are tracking, that the DHS is tracking en route, one that is over 12,000 by the latest estimate,” said Rood, who is the under secretary of Defense for policy.
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Rood said there are currently more than 2,300 active duty troops at the southern border, down from a high of 5,900 in November.
But he says several thousands more active duty troops are expected to head to the border in the coming weeks, to assist the Department of Homeland Security with laying down more concertina wire, and helping to monitor the border between points of entry.
Democrats, who now control the House, called Pentagon officials in to testify on President Trump’s order of active duty troops to the border in October, which they have called a political stunt by the White House before midterm election.
But defense officials testified that it was the Pentagon — not the White House — decided that active duty troops were able to deploy faster and were better resourced to deal with the caravans headed to the border than National Guard and reserve forces.
“That was a decision made inside the Department,” said Navy Adm. Michael Gilday, the director for operations of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Democrat lawmakers also questioned whether there was a crisis that necessitated the deployment of troops, when the number of illegal immigrants coming across the border have been higher in previous years.
“The difference is really the caravans and really the nature of the asylum seekers,” Rood said.
Ranking Member Mac Thornberry (R-TX) agreed. “One of the things that changed is that now we have thousands, and tens of thousands of migrants who are coming in caravans which we have not seen before,” he said.
“The days when we had a greater number of people — but most of them were from Mexico, and you could simply put them back across the border — are very different from these large family groups, 10, 12,000 people coming. So yes, it changed the requirements,” he added.
“We have 42 percent increase in the number of family units. We have 60,000 unaccompanied children that were caught last year,” Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO) added. “I’m a former teacher and a mom, this is a humanitarian crisis.”
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL) noted that administrations have been sending active duty troops to the U.S. border with Mexico “since Alamo.”
“I’m just astounded by the fact that we continue to act stupid in Congress and fuss over things like $5.7 billion in fencing, and it cost us $11 billion dollars to shut the government down,” he said.
According to Rood, the projected costs for the active duty deployments by the end of January is $132 million. He said the costs for the National Guard deployment for 2018 and 2019 to amount to $550 million.
But Rood said that even with the troop deployments, illegal immigrants were still coming across the border.
“Just in the last three months alone, CBP reports apprehending 145,000 illegal immigrants,” Rood said.
He said last year, there were more than 521,000 apprehensions by law enforcement, with a larger amount of people not apprehended. He said that was up from 415,000 the year before.
“In the last two years alone, a larger number than the population of Washington, D.C. have been apprehended, or a city the size of San Francisco, apprehensions in two years,” he said.
Reps. Hartzler and Mo Brooks (R-AL) noted that there is existing authority the administration could use to have the military build a border barrier without declaring a national emergency, through Section 284 of Title 10 of the United States Code.
“Congress has actually given the DOD the ability to provide military support to law enforcement agencies specifically for countering the counter-drug purposes. Section 284 of Title 10 of the United States Code authorizes the DOD to provide support to counter drug activities to control the transnational organized crime,” she said.
“The law clearly identifies various activities that DOD is authorized to conduct including the construction of road and construction of fences. Light installation along smuggling corridors, aerial, ground reconnaissance and transportation,” she said.
Rood responded that Hartzler was correct.
“As you correctly point out, Section 284 of Title 10 does provide the secretary of defense the authority in performance of that counter drug mission such as blocking drug smuggling corridors to erect barriers, fencing, provide road construction things of that nature to aid in that counternarcotics mission,” he said.
“We have already given the authority to do this and we have a very critical mission to keep people safe and make sure that people don’t die as a result of these transnational drug cartel activity and currently they are. So it’s imperative for us to find a solution, and I’m very hopeful that in the next three weeks we can come together in a bipartisan fashion,” Hartzler added.
Brooks also pressed Rood on whether the Pentagon would carry out an order by Trump to build necessary barriers if he ordered them to pursuant to Section 284 without declaring a national emergency.
“If we judge it to be a lawful order, yes sir, and I assume it would be,” Rood said.
200 Pounds of Meth, Cocaine Seized in California by Border Patrol
2:42
U.S. Border Patrol agents seized nearly 200 pounds of methamphetamine and cocaine in two separate vehicle inspections this past weekend in California. The alleged seizures resulted in the arrest of a Mexican national and a U.S. citizen on drug smuggling charges.
In the first seizure this past Saturday, agents assigned to the Indio Station in the El Centro Sector contacted a male driver in a 1997 Ford F-250 at a designated immigration checkpoint on Highway 86 at 8:50 am. Agents referred the male, identified as Rene Elizalde, a 22-year-old U.S. citizen, to a secondary inspection after a K-9 alerted to an odor, according to Border Patrol officials. The K-9 pointed to the driver’s side of the vehicle and agents utilized a fiber-scope camera to inspect the two gas tanks. In one, agents noted that the liquid did not have the appearance or characteristics of gasoline. Agents then tested the substance and discovered it was methamphetamine. The liquid methamphetamine had a total weight of 75 pounds with an estimated street value of $198,750.
“Liquid methamphetamine is an extremely dangerous form of the narcotic and thankfully our agents were able to prevent it from advancing further into the United States,” saidChief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez.
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Elizalde, along with the reportedly seized drugs, was handed over to the custody of the Drug Enforcement Administration for a review of criminal charges.
In the second seizure this past Sunday, agents assigned to the Indio Station in the El Centro Sector contacted a 35-year-old driver in a brown 2015 Renault Duster Expression at 3:30 pm. Agents referred the driver, who was determined to be a 35-year-old Mexican national, to a secondary inspection, according to the Border Patrol. Agents discovered 61 individually wrapped packages concealed within an aftermarket floor compartment underneath the driver and passenger seats.
A total of 56 of 61 packages reportedly tested positive for methamphetamine. The other five contained cocaine. The packages containing methamphetamine weighed 109.65 pounds and had an estimated street value of $284,856. The five packages of cocaine weighed 13.12 pounds, valued at $170,560.
The driver was turned over to the DEA for processing, according to a news release.
Robert Arce is a retired Phoenix Police detective with extensive experience working Mexican organized crime and street gangs. Arce has worked in the Balkans, Iraq, Haiti, and recently completed a three-year assignment in Monterrey, Mexico, working out of the Consulate for the United States Department of State, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Program, where he was the Regional Program Manager for Northeast Mexico (Coahuila, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, Durango, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas.) You can follow him on Twitter. He can be reached at robertrarce@gmail.com
ICE Arrests 118 in New York
2:25
Nearly all of the 118 immigration violation arrests made in New York by ICE over five days were convicted criminals or those with pending charges.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) made 188 arrests from January 14-18. Of those arrested, 107 were convicted criminals or facing charges, and 55 failed to leave the country after a final order of removal or were previously removed and returned to the U.S.
ERO New York field office director Thomas R. Decker said of the enforcement:
In spite of the significant obstacles that ICE faces due to the dangerous policies created by local jurisdictions, which hinders the cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement, ICE will continue to devote the full efforts of our agency to protecting citizens and enforcing federal immigration law despite challenges being pursued by politically motivated individuals.
ICE named 14 of those foreign nationals arrested, six of which had sexual offense convictions or pending charges.
“More than 35 individuals arrested during this operation were previously released from local law enforcement on an active detainer,” according to an ICE detailing of the enforcement action. The release emphasized, “When law enforcement agencies fail to honor immigration detainers and release serious criminal offenders onto the streets, it undermines ICE’s ability to protect public safety and carry out its mission.”
ICE pointed to sanctuary cities and their practice of releasing those on ICE detainers, including many with “significant criminal histories.”
More than 80 percent of American voters want a crackdown on illegal alien crime, according to a recent Harvard/Harris poll.
“Ultimately, efforts by local NYC politicians have shielded removable criminal aliens from immigration enforcement and created another magnet for more illegal immigration, all at the expense of the safety and security of the very people it purports to protect,” Tuesday’s ICE announcement stated. “ICE seeks straightforward cooperation with all local law enforcement and elected officials.”
Michelle Moons is a White House Correspondent for Breitbart News — follow on Twitter @MichelleDiana and Facebook.
Shutdown Shudders: Consumer Confidence Falls Again as Outlook for the Future Dims
2:26
Consumer confidence took another hit in January, as the government partially shut down while Capitol Hill Democrats and the Trump White House battled over funding for a border wall.
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index decreased in January, the third consecutive steep monthly decline.
The index fell to 120.2 from December’s revised down 126.6. Economists had expected a milder decline to 124.3.
Despite the government shutdown, consumers’ view of current conditions was little changed. The percentage of consumers claiming business conditions are “good” was virtually unchanged at 37.4 percent, while those saying business conditions are “bad” actually fell from 11.6 percent to 11.1 percent.
But optimism about the future turned much more pessimistic in January, the third consecutive monthly steep decline in expectations. The percentage of consumers expecting business conditions will improve over the next six months fell from 18.1 percent to 16.0 percent, while those expecting business conditions will worsen increased from 10.6 percent to 14.8 percent.
Consumers’ assessment of labor market conditions was mixed. Those stating jobs are “plentiful” increased from 45.5 percent to 46.6 percent, while those claiming jobs are “hard to get” also increased, from 12.2 percent to 12.9 percent. But the outlook was less favorable. The share expecting more jobs in the months ahead decreased from 16.6 percent to 14.7 percent, while those anticipating fewer jobs increased, from 14.6 percent to 16.5 percent.
And fewer consumers expect their incomes to improve in the near-term future. The share expecting an improvement declined from 22.4 percent to 18.2 percent, while the proportion expecting a decrease also declined, from 7.6 percent to 7.1 percent.
Although consumer confidence has declined in recent months, it remains at a very high level. Consumer confidence remains well above levels that persisted for years prior to the election of President Donald Trump.
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