By Jennie Taer
Published Oct. 23, 2024, 7:30 a.m. ET
With just two weeks until the presidential election, the Biden-Harris administration is working overtime to hide its illegal migrant problem from the public’s view, furious Border Patrol agents say.
ICE has been ordered to speed up deportations. And Border Patrol agents are busing and flying migrants from San Diego — where arrivals are still double what they were when President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took office, Homeland Security sources told The Post.
They’re being sent to border towns in Texas and Arizona, which have far fewer migrants.
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San Diego County Border Patrol Supervisor Jim Desmond called the move a “blatant attempt” by the Biden-Harris admin “to protect their image before the election.”
Each week, “numerous buses” are being sent to Yuma, Arizona, and “three to four planes” are being flown to McAllen, Texas, Desmond said.
He sounded the alarm about the policy on X, writing: “This isn’t about securing the border for the Feds — it’s about optics.”
For months, the administration has touted a drop in illegal border crossings following new asylum restrictions — which are essentially a rehash of Trump administration policies.
But the San Diego sector of Southern California is still getting slammed — in part because migrants have a better chance of skirting the rules and staying in the country due to an order, previously reported by The Post, that agents should release migrants from more than 100 countries in Europe, Asia and Africa.
Migrants from those countries are harder to deport because their home governments don’t readily accept deportation flights.
Border patrol agents threaten to leave in droves if Kamala Harris wins: ‘Not doing this s–t again’
The Border Patrol had more than 1,200 illegal migrants in custody in a single day last week in San Diego’s migrant holding facilities, which are meant to hold just 1,000 people — putting the Border Patrol center at 122% capacity, Homeland Security sources said.
Earlier this summer, the facility was at more than 150% capacity.
Facilities in the Rio Grande Valley in Texas are at just 19% capacity after Gov. Greg Abbott took tough measures to block illegal crossers there. In Yuma, Arizona, facilities are at 51% capacity, according to Border Patrol sources.
For months, the buses and flights have been operating, but their frequency has increased. The number of migrants being released after departing them has also ramped up.
It’s all in an effort to prevent immigration officials from releasing migrants onto the streets of San Diego because local nonprofits are also at capacity, the sources said.
“They don’t want street releases because it will look negative on Kamala Harris. All San Diego NGOs are at full capacity and cannot take any more,” said a source.
Yuma County Supervisor Jonathan Lines told The Post that the Biden-Harris admin “continues to move people around to minimize the optics of an open border” as the election approaches.
“The border is not a priority for this administration. Women and children have suffered at the hands of cartels. This is a border security crisis of epic proportions, which has turned into a humanitarian crisis throughout the US,” said Lines.
ICE facilities nationwide had more than 38,000 migrants in custody as of Monday, per an agency source, who said the agency is also facing new pressure from the Biden-Harris admin to conceal the issue.170
“The Biden administration is pressuring ICE days out from Election Day to ramp up removals. The administration wants to send a message to swing voters that they are strong and serious about border security and immigration enforcement,” the source said.
Illegal migrant encounters across the southern border dropped from 250,000 crossings in December 2023 to 54,000 in September. In total, more than 10 million migrants have crossed the border illegally under the Biden-Harris administration.
Additionally, roughly 1,500 migrants are allowed to enter the US each day using the CBP One phone app and an additional 30,000 migrants a month to fly directly into the country as a result of another program.
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