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Illegal border crossings continue to soar in Texas, along with a massive growth in COVID-19 cases.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Patrol Agent Brian Hastings reported that his sector at the Texas-Mexico border alone took into custody more than 15,000 illegal immigrants in one week, the most so far this year.

In the same sector, agents saw a 900% increase in those being detained who tested positive for the coronavirus.

“Even with the spread of the COVID-19 virus, human smugglers continue to try these brazen attempts with zero regard for the lives they endanger, nor to the health of the citizens of our great nation,” the RGV Border Patrol Sector said in a statement.

On July 18, RGV Sector agents encountered 203 migrants who entered the U.S. illegally, walking north along a ranch road, it said in a statement. On July 17, agents encountered a group of 298 people walking north in a similar area; on July 16, they had encountered 235 people.

Hastings shared photos of one encounter on Twitter, stating that a human smuggler fled the scene, leaving 11 people in a moving vehicle, which according to the picture Hastings posted, appears to be stuck in the bushes after having been driven off the road.

“Human smugglers always have and always will place profit over human lives,” Hastings said.

In June, Border Patrol apprehended 188,829 people who illegally crossed the southwest border, including more than 15,000 unaccompanied minors, over 55,000 family units, and over 117,000 single adults. They also estimate another 51,000 people evaded capture.

The number of people being detained who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector alone has increased by 900%.

In the first two weeks of July, 135 people being detained tested positive for COVID-19, a 900% increase in confirmed positive cases compared to the previous 14 months, Fox News reported.

The RGV sector, which apprehends roughly 2,000 people every day, accounts for 60% of detainees who have tested positive in all of Border Patrol custody.

Hastings told KURV 710 AM in McAllen, that more than 40 of his agents have already tested positive this fiscal year.

There are five Customs and Border Patrol sectors in Texas, with the Rio Grande sector covering the southern-most tip of Texas being the busiest. It has six stations located on the border, two stations that staff strategically placed traffic checkpoints and one coastal station responsible for backup of the checkpoints and marine operations in the Gulf of Mexico, Border Patrol said. Its agents patrol over 320 river miles, 250 coastal miles and 19 counties that span over 17,000 square miles.

How do democrats justify all this?
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At the risk of being too cute, justifying would be a bad move.

Explaining might be better, or responding, perhaps, but not justifying.
Budwick · 70-79, M
@MistyCee Typical non-answer.
carpediem · 61-69, M
@MistyCee I'd be interested in hearing the explaination.
@Budwick Yup.
@carpediem So, would I actually.
carpediem · 61-69, M
@MistyCee If there was anything Trump got right, and excelled at dealing with, it's the border. Every president since Reagan tried to handle it. Most (correction ALL) half heartedly. Trump fixed it without help from congress. He got it right.
@carpediem I've been accused of being so anti-Trump that I have no credibility whatsoever, so I'm not going to get into what Trump did right or wrong here on this post.

Having said that, the perception (regardless of it's accuracy) that "Trump alone can fix" the border (as well as everything else, but we're talking about the border here) and that Democrats all want open borders makes this issue one the Biden admin needs to deal with politically, as well as a matter of governance.

If I were the Biden admin, the obvious and easy first response is that vaccination is at the heart of the 900% figure that got raised three times by OP.

Then, I'd build from there, adresssing the border issue, but characterizing it as part of a bigger set of issues with regard to how we treat other human beings.

I'm not sure of the details, and Kamala's got her issues, which makes this especially tricky, but I do think the Biden Admin needs to get a message out on this ahead of another wave of disease bearing foreign vermin are the big issue stuff.
Budwick · 70-79, M
@MistyCee [quote] I have no credibility whatsoever, [/quote]

I agree

[quote]so I'm not going to get into what Trump did right or wrong here[/quote]

And yet you did.

Misty - focus like a laser beam.
Do you have an answer to the question?
How do they justify the bullshit?
carpediem · 61-69, M
@MistyCee I disagree with the Trump alone can fix the border statement. Trump alone HAD to fix the border. That doesn't mean he's a hero by any means. It does however, mean that he didn't stop when congress did. You'll notice I said congress and not one party alone. Both parties have done a dismal job with immigration and border security.

Your "bigger issue" comment I understand. It's a feel good statement. I'm more for border security=American security. I feel people entering illegally are criminals. Granted they are people who want a new start and I support that. But it needs to be handled legally. Period. I support increasing the ability to process people as long as they apply out of the country. I also support adjusting the numbers of immigrants coming into the country.

The way its being handled today is a travesty. Trump had it right.
@Budwick [quote]How do they justify the bullshit/?[/quote]

Really focusing, i don't know what they do.

In terms of what they should do, I'd say, and sort of have already, don't attempt to "justify" "bullshit", but instead respond with more (better) bullshit.

I know that's vague, but I don't have numbers handy to spin them and I'm not getting paid to do so.
@carpediem I agree with you that there are issues with immigration that should be addressed and that both sides have made missteps.

I even sort of agree with it being a travesty, but I don't see a big fix coming from this Congress nor from this administration without Congress.

As for Trump had it right, which I've been trying to avoid, I'll still say he didn't to the degree that he tried go too far without Congress. I didn't like it when Obama did it either, and I hope Biden won't either.

Beyond that, practically, I think the border is a better issue for Republicans then Democrats, and I think Biden's best play politically is to diffuse it rather than deal with it in any decisive way at the moment.

Having said that, [i]if[/i] some kind of compromise in connection with other issues, like infrastructure, might help, it might make sense. I don't see how, but I'm not getting paid to do it and don't know where the bodies are in terms of negotiation.
Budwick · 70-79, M
@MistyCee More no-answers.
@Budwick If you say so.

Did anyone else give you better answers?

Maybe its the question?
carpediem · 61-69, M
@MistyCee Respectfully... Biden screwed it up. It was fixed and working. There was a solid plan. The numbers were under control and things were steadily improving. Things being a more orderly process of admitting new applicants.

Biden screwed it all up by applying partisan measures. The crisis as it exists is his fault and his alone. He could have left what was working in place and done small measures to adjust what needed adjusting. Instead he blew the thing up and now there's a crisis on several fronts. It's going to turn the house and senate red in 2022.
@carpediem [quote]
It's going to turn the house and senate red in 2022.
[/quote]

That's the part I'm worried about, tbh, as well as whether Biden broke it sells.
carpediem · 61-69, M
@MistyCee He'll have the media supporting blue candidates and bashing red. But people are getting wise to that garbage. Most know the media is in the pocket of the DNC. Honest press no longer exists in the US. They're biased all the way.

Going to be hard to blame someone else. It worked when Trump was in. Biden screwed it up. Everyone knows it. Hard to hide it.
@carpediem Maybe. We'll see who most people and everyone are soon enough.

I'm not convinced either way as far as the next elections go.

I do see it as a Democrat problem and a Republican strength though.