SAN DIEGO, (Border Report) — Since late Friday, Border Patrol vehicles have been rolling up to the pedestrian side of the San Ysidro Port of Entry to unload migrants caught crossing the border illegally. Agents then escort people in their custody to the Mexico side of the border.
No statistics have been provided by Customs and Border Protection as to the number of undocumented migrants who have been expelled from the United States since Friday night when the borders were closed to non-essential travel.
On that night, Border Patrol protocol changed.
Agents have been given the discretion to expel people they apprehend without taking them to detention facilities.
“Individuals are no longer being held in detention areas,” said Aaron Heitke, Chief Patrol Agent in San Diego.
“Quick interviews will be fully conducted in the field, basic biographic scans as well and individuals will be brought back to the border and expelled to the country they came from.”
According to Heitke, these measures have been implemented to curve the spread of Covid-19
“The overall goal is to prevent additional spread of Covid-19 by reducing contact and it’s being done to protect the United States, front-line responders and all those crossing our borders,” said Heitke.
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