This is Why We Need the
Wall: On a Whim Obama Shuts Down Border Aerial Surveillance, by Kerry Lear 11/26/16
As
Obama’s time as president slowly comes to an end, he, along with the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS,) have shut down a border aerial surveillance
program, reports Watchdog.org.
The
program, known as Operation Phalanx, was created in 2010 to help the National
Guard monitor drug smuggling operations and illegal border crossings by
immigrants.
Operation
Phalanx was given full funding by Congress for 2017, but the DHS has been
scaling back on the program since January, according to Breitbart
Texas.
Texas
Governor Greg Abbott and U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX) have both
objected to the DHS’ move to scale back the operation.
“Any
decrease in aerial observation is not only imprudent, but contradicts the very
mission of border security enforcement,” wrote Abbott and Cuellar to DHS
Secretary Jeh Johnson in a letter. “In order to ensure we are doing everything
possible to effectively secure the border, we request immediate information on
the metrics used to determine that a 50 percent reduction in aerial resources
would be sufficient to support this important border security operation.”
This
was prior to the DHS completely closing the program and once the department
quietly did so, Cueller decided to request the support of other Texas
Congressional Delegation
Members,
including House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mike McCaul (R-TX),
Representative John Carter (R-TX), and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX.)
Following Watchdog.org’s report,
Abbott took to Twitter to express is disappointment.
“Obama
is doing everything he can to open the border. January 20th can't come soon
enough,” tweeted Abbott.
McCaul
also questioned the abandonment of the program. “Over the last several years,
Congress has provided billions of dollars to secure the borders, but without an
end goal in mind,” said McCaul.
The
DHS has downplayed the number of illegals crossing the Mexican border and has
even said that this number has decreased.
However,
the months prior to Trump’s election, the number of immigrants illegally
crossing the border has skyrocketed.
“Breitbart
Texas reported earlier this month that in October 2016, FMUA
apprehensions increased by 37 percent. UAC apprehensions were up by 19 percent,
and total apprehensions were up by 17 percent,” writes Breitbart.
Now
that number is only going to increase with less aerial surveillance. “Operation
Phalanx accounted for 10,559 apprehensions and 4,007 ‘turnbacks’ from March
2012 to December 2015. Phalanx was credited with seizing 12,851 pounds of
narcotics during the period,” writes Watchdog.org.
It
looks like the Obama is loosening border controls, even though he is well aware
of president-elect Trump’s plans to implement stricter ones.
Luckily,
the current DHS Secretary Johnson’s term is also coming to an end and
president-elect Trump is expected to put someone in charge who will properly
address our immigration problem.
In
response to the shutdown of the Operation Phalanx, U.S. Customs and Border
Protection (CBP) in Texas has just announced the opening a Temporary Holding
Facility, which is 40 miles east of El Paso.
Apparently,
there has been an influx of illegal border crossings and this new detention
center will be for the overflow of illegal immigrants undergoing processing at
CBP ports of entry and Border Patrol stations in the El Paso Sector.
Editor's
note: Obama
is still trying to get some licks in, even though he knows Trump will reverse
him wherever possible. Unfortunately, this petulence is damaging and costly
even in the short term.
This
is why we need the wall. A politician in a bad mood has withdrawn air support
to secure the border. Now the border is unsecured, the potential illegals know
it, and we are back to where we started before the measures were implemented.
This has been the issue all along, national security is at the whim of
the politicians, and the ongoing invasion stops and starts. We need the
permanent barrier, its the only way to send the message that we care about our
border.
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