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Migrants in cages are back under Biden amid border surge. This time, in the sweltering Arizona heat.

August 4, 2023 | | Print Article

With weekend temperatures expected to soar to an unbearable 113 degrees, migrants detained by U.S. Border Patrol at the Ajo station in Arizona are being held outdoors in a cramped cage as agents struggle to cope with a renewed surge of people crossing into the States from Mexico.

Though border crossings typically tend to slow during the boiling summer months, DailyMail.com photos show migrants sitting outside in a metal cage, shoulder-to-shoulder on narrow benches in an attempt to take advantage of what shade is available.

A giant fan at the remote Ajo Border Patrol Station offers relief to some.

Situated in the desert, roughly two hours west of Tuscon, the “area is at the heart of a surge in migrant arrivals, undermining Biden administration hopes that its new immigration restrictions are having an impact,” according to DailyMail.com.

The caging of migrants has long been a headline-generating subject.

As BizPac Review reported in May 2018, Democrats lost their liberal minds and blasted then-President Donald Trump after photos of migrant children locked in “cages” circled the internet.

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It turned out the images were from a 2014 surge of Central American immigrants illegally crossing the U.S. border during the Obama administration.


Facts be damned, the media would still like to attribute the disturbing photos to Trump’s time in the White House, even if they are doing it to take a swipe at the Biden administration.

“It is bad news for the Biden administration,” DailyMail.com reports. “The pictures of people held inside wire fences provide a visual echo of families caged under the Trump administration.”

What the latest photos show suggests the Biden administration’s plan to handle immigration isn’t actually working, despite the president’s claim to the contrary.

In late July, BizPac Review reported that, while the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reported a lower number of migrant apprehensions at the southern border in June, “migrant apprehensions at Mexico’s own southern border rose to a record high the same month.”

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“Things may be a bit quieter on the U.S. side of the border, but Mexico in June broke — by more than 10% — its record for most migrant apprehensions in a single month,” Adam Isacson, Director for Defense Oversight for the Washington Office On Latin America (WOLA) tweeted at the time. 

According to DailyMail.com, “New Customs and Border Protection data reveal that July brought a jump in illegal crossings of more than 30 percent, reversing a decline since President Joe Biden overhauled immigration regulations.”

“C.B.P. recorded more than 130,000 arrests along border compared with 99,545 in June, according to a source close to Border Patrol,” the outlet continues. “The spike is greatest in southern Arizona in the region around Ajo. The Tucson sector recorded 40,000 arrests last month, making it the highest monthly total in 15 years.”

Meanwhile, the federal government has sent $130 million to New York to help the state cope with its migrant crisis — a fact that made Independent Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema furious.

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Asked at a roundtable discussion for first responders in the border town of Yuma, Arizona, why the money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Shelter Services Program was “going to New York, and who’s sending it,” Sinema pointed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

“My staff is gonna be really upset but I’m gonna tell you the truth here,” Sinema said. “The reason the money is going to New York is because … the leader of the United States Senate is from New York. That is how a bunch of money went to New York.”

Citing a source close to Border Patrol, DailyMail.com reports that “several large groups” had arrived in Arizona on Tuesday night: “At least 600 people were detained in the Ajo area and the whole Tucson sector saw 1,900 encounters on that day alone.”

“On Wednesday,” the outlet states, “the result was evident in the outdoor holding pen at Ajo station.”

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A spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said the outdoor cage was only used “when necessary.”

“USBP has utilized outdoor shaded areas only when necessary and for very short times while they await onward transportation to larger facilities,” he said. “The Ajo Border Patrol State is not equipped to hold large number of migrants due to historic trends in this area.”

 

Melissa Fine
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