The door to America is wide open.
Thousands of migrants cross the U.S. border into Arizona every day, literally through open floodgates that have made the Tucson post office the busiest point of illegal entry into the country, The Post has learned.
US officials have inexplicably opened 114 massive gates along the Arizona border to allow water to flow freely during the annual monsoon season and for the migration of an endangered antelope species , officials said.
But the measure also allows an average of 1,400 migrants from as far away as China to casually enter the country daily, with overwhelmed and outnumbered border agents virtually helpless to stop them.
“We thought the agents were going to tell us something,” said one Ecuadorian migrant. “But we just walked in.”
Another from Cuba said: “It was so easy to get into the US.
“Nothing like our trip through Mexico. That part was difficult,” he added. “I thought there would be more security.”
Video taken by The Post shows a group of about 50 migrants walking through the open gates and entering the United States within seconds, without being stopped or questioned.
Smugglers are taking advantage of the gate error, busing migrants to the border and dropping them off as casual tourists. Once crossed, they hand themselves over to border agents and say they are seeking asylum.
Border Patrol agents call them “waivers.”
Last month, 42,561 migrants were found at the Tuscon border crossing, a big jump from June’s number of 27,294. Tuscon now outperforms traditionally busiest border posts in El Paso and Laredo in Texas, where 24,352 and 26,627 border crossings were recorded, respectively, in July.
“We haven’t seen this many migrants since about 2008,” said Adam Isacson, director of defense oversight at the Washington Office’s Latin America Advocacy Group. “With the end of the 42nd title, in a way that no one oversaw, it looks like it will return to Tucson.
“What you’re seeing is a lot of large groups wanting to surrender,” Isacson said. “Tucson has also traditionally been where smugglers concentrate Mexicans and Central Americans who do not want to be detected. Now they see 100 people at once without running away.
“It’s really becoming an epicenter,” he said. “That’s big.”
Each of Arizona’s 114 gates, which have been open for nearly two months, have 12-foot gates wide enough for a motorcycle to pass through. Traffickers drive busloads of migrants to the Mexican side of the border, where they get off and simply enter the United States.
Border Patrol sources said the call to open the gates came from several federal agencies, including the National Park Service.
But because the monsoon season started late this year, they remained open for weeks before rain arrived, allowing migrants a dry path to the United States.
“We tried to close the doors, but the order came that we had to leave them open,” a source said. “You wouldn’t leave the front door of your house open in a bad neighborhood.”
The gates run a 36-mile stretch near Lukeville, Arizona.
In a statement to The Post, Customs and Border Protection said, “The individuals had already crossed the border from Mexico, are on U.S. soil, and are subject to U.S. immigration laws. Individuals who cross il ·legally they will be subject to the due process rule, which sets common-sense conditions on asylum eligibility, with certain exceptions. Those who fail to establish a legal basis to remain in the United States will be removed.”
Unlike the mostly South American migrants who have been detained crossing into Texas, the immigrants arriving in Arizona are from all over the world, including India, Egypt and China.
And unlike many South American migrants, who are often disheveled, exhausted and tired from a long and treacherous trek across the barren land, Tuscon’s migrants look more like holiday travelers.
Lack of staff border agents can do little to stop the flood.
“Three nights ago, a large group of migrants were on the Mexican side,” a source said. “There were two officers in all-terrain vehicles [all-terrain vehicles] and a lineman trying to stop them from entering. The officers blocked the doors with their quad [bikes]. The cartel guy just started pushing people around.
“They rushed the agents. I had people going up on quad bikes. He had people pushing the officers. Not a single one was charged.”
In response to questions about the open house in her state from The Post, former Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who became an independent last December, said, “Arizona’s communities are bearing the brunt of the failure of the federal government at our border The Administration must do more: Border communities are stretched to their limits and need more support.
“I’m pushing for federal resources to be quickly disbursed to border communities, including local nonprofits and first responders, so we can secure our border, keep Arizonans safe, and ensure the fair and humane treatment of migrants.”
The Border Patrol in the area has staffing issues. Agents from across the United States were initially offered a $10,000 bonus to relocate to the remote town of Ajo, Arizona, to bolster the ranks.
The bonus was increased to $20,000 when only a handful of students came forward.
“Everything changed since then [President Biden] took over,” a source said. “This part of the border wall was built four years ago. Now we’re just letting people through.
“Brutal,” the source added. “Nobody wants to do that. They [the migrants] they commit a federal crime, we charge them, they don’t get convicted. They are not sent back. They get a credible fear interview, they get one [asylum] court date from now.
“We never hear anything other than that. The administration won’t help us.”
Meanwhile, Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said the way the open doors were exploited so quickly is a sure sign of the cartel’s influence.
He told The Post: “Any time you leave a spillway or a gate open, the vast majority of people won’t know it’s open and won’t have the means to get there really, really quickly. Because the cartels are constantly watching what we do, the moment something is left open, it explodes.
“In this particular case, it blew up almost immediately, which shows how adept the criminal cartels are at exploiting any weakness any time we show them.
“The cartels know that all you have to do is cross the border illegally, ask for asylum. If you’re with a family unit, if you’re from certain specific countries, if you find these loopholes that go outside of what Secretary Mayorkas has announced, you’re going to be released and that’s what we’re seeing right now. “
“Each of us [Border Patrol agents]we are all left scratching our heads as to why an administration would allow this to happen.
“We see more and more that this president does not care about what is best for the country. He cares about what’s best for his re-election.”
English 
Español de Venezuela