By Steve Neavling
Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens called the border crisis “a national security threat” that has kept him “awake at night.”
In an interview with CBS News that aired Sunday, Owens said he’s most worried about the tens of thousands of undocumented migrants who have evaded apprehension.
“What’s keeping me up at night is the 140,000 got aways,” Owens said, referring to the migrants who were not apprehended since October.
“Why are they hiding? What do they have to hide? What are they bringing in? What is their intent? Where are they coming from?” Owens said.
He continued, “We simply don’t know the answers to those questions. Those things for us are what represent the threat to our communities.”
Since October, the start of the federal government’s fiscal year, nearly 1 million migrants have been apprehended.
Owens said smugglers “absolutely are” creating the rules of engagement at the border.
“They dictate how the flow is going to look like, and we respond to it.”
He added, “Then we try and get out in front of it and deny them the ability to use these areas, especially ones that we think are going to be dangerous for us and for the migrants. But at the end of the day, there’s over 1,900 miles of border with Mexico.”
Even with 20,000 Border Patrol agents, it’s impossible to protect the entire border, he said.
“The tactic is, they’ll push groups across knowing that we’re going to respond from a humanitarian perspective and make sure that they’re safe. And while we’re tied up and occupied doing this, what are they doing a couple miles down the road?”
