U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) | Congressman Juan Ciscomani (Facebook)
U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) | Congressman Juan Ciscomani (Facebook)
U.S. Rep. Juan Ciscomani (R-Ariz.) said that Vice President Kamala Harris' (D) recent visit to the southern border seemed more like a political photo opportunity than a genuine attempt to address the ongoing crisis. He emphasized that after three and a half years in her role, Harris has failed to tackle the escalating issues faced by border communities, leaving them vulnerable to criminals.
“Vice President Harris’ visit to the border smells like nothing more than a photo opportunity to try and score political points,” Ciscomani said in a press release. “For three and a half years, the vice president has been in a position to address the crisis, but instead she has ignored it. As a result, border districts like mine, have suffered under her lack of leadership.”
“Our communities have become less safe and vulnerable people are being exploited by coyotes, human smugglers, drug cartels, and transnational criminal organizations,” Ciscomani continued. “If she was truly serious about addressing the crisis at the border, she would have done something as the sitting Vice President to help border communities that have been calling for help.”
Harris' Sept. 27 visit to the border was her first trip to the border since a visit to El Paso, Texas in 2021.
According to an analysis of CBP Data conducted by Tucson Standard, there have been 452,520 total encounters in the Tucson Sector during fiscal year 2024, which is up 40.3% from last year’s number of 322,624 encounters.
During fiscal year 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has arrested 45,402 illegal aliens who have previous criminal convictions or who are wanted by law enforcement.
Approximately 16,465 of these arrests have been made by the U.S. Border Patrol, and 28,937 of these arrests have been made by the CBP’s Office of Field Operations. The CBP’s 2024 fiscal year runs from October 1, 2023, to September 30, 2024.
CBP has reported more than 2.7 million illegal alien encounters during Fiscal Year 2024, while there were only 646,822 in Fiscal Year 2020.
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