(USNewsMag.com) – On Jan. 4, El Paso, Texas, Border Patrol agents arrested an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who had a prior murder conviction.
In a post on Twitter, Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens said this is the 10th arrest of someone with “homicide/murder convictions” since the fiscal year 2024 began on Oct. 1. The arrest came as part of the regular apprehension of criminals by Border Patrol agents, who find criminals to be among the millions of illegal migrants crossing the southern border into the U.S. each year.
On Jan. 4, Owens posted on Twitter about a similar incident when Border Patrol agents arrested an illegal migrant who had a homicide conviction in Colombia in 2015. He stated that he would be prosecuted for illegal entry and deported.
The number of criminal apprehensions has led Border Patrol officials to raise concerns about got-aways having the potential to get past Border Patrol agents. In 2023, Owens told lawmakers that in fiscal year 2023, there were more than 650,000 got-aways. He said, “You have to ask yourself why” a person is willing to evade capture by going “through very remote, very dangerous conditions.” He said it represents “a risk, a threat” and is a “great concern” to Border Patrol agents.
While meeting privately with Border Patrol agents in Eagle Pass, Texas, on Jan. 8, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas stated the rate of release for illegal migrants apprehended at the border is currently “above 85 percent.”
In fiscal year 2023, there were 2.4 million migrant encounters, with more than 35,000 criminals encountered at the ports of entry as well as between the ports of entry. There have been over 6,000 criminals encountered so far in fiscal year 2024, as the month of December also set a record for more than 300,000 migrant encounters. Since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, an estimated 6 million migrants have crossed the southern border, according to statistics from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
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