"What I’m hearing from my ranchers is that, for everyone else, they’ve gotten relief, but that area—the Big Bend Sector—continues to be a hotbed in particular."
Texas Insider Report WASHINGTON, D.C.– Today, during a House Appropriations Committee Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing, Congressman Tony Gonzales (TX-23) addressed illegal border crossings within the Big Bend Sector with Acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Pete Flores.
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Transcript lightly edited for clarity
Congressman Gonzales: “My last question is on the Big Bend Sector. These other sectors get a lot of attention, but the Big Bend Sector, in my eyes, is an area that hasn’t slowed down, that continues to have a lot of foot traffic on a daily basis. A lot of people are traveling through the desert in that area in particular. Once again, it’s not an easy place to get to, and I understand the population is low. But from a Big Bend Sector perspective, is there anything that we can do to help some of the local communities?
What I’m hearing from my ranchers is that, for everyone else, they’ve gotten relief, but that area—the Big Bend Sector—continues to be a hotbed in particular. Is there anything that we can do to alleviate some of their high foot traffic?”
Acting CBP Commissioner Flores: “We continue to look at our high-traffic areas and reevaluate that with the support that we’re getting—being able to put agents back to do law enforcement work, the ingestion of technology that we have, and refocusing some of that technology with the help of DOD, and the help of DOD personnel on the border to help close off some of those areas—are all areas that we’re focusing on. We continue to plan for where we see problem spots or hot areas along the border, and we continue to reevaluate how we’re deploying our agents, how we’re working with DOD to deploy their personnel, and then what our coverage is in the air in regard to bringing visibility to those problem areas.
We’ll continue to work towards 100% situational awareness, and that’s our plan right now, so we can ensure that we know what’s coming across the border. And then, ultimately, in ensuring that we know what’s coming across the border, being able to take an enforcement action on that. The enforcement and deterrence piece on the consequences seems to have a good deterrent effect and helps alleviate some of those hot spots.”
What I’m hearing from my ranchers is that, for everyone else, they’ve gotten relief, but that area—the Big Bend Sector—continues to be a hotbed in particular. Is there anything that we can do to alleviate some of their high foot traffic?”
Acting CBP Commissioner Flores: “We continue to look at our high-traffic areas and reevaluate that with the support that we’re getting—being able to put agents back to do law enforcement work, the ingestion of technology that we have, and refocusing some of that technology with the help of DOD, and the help of DOD personnel on the border to help close off some of those areas—are all areas that we’re focusing on. We continue to plan for where we see problem spots or hot areas along the border, and we continue to reevaluate how we’re deploying our agents, how we’re working with DOD to deploy their personnel, and then what our coverage is in the air in regard to bringing visibility to those problem areas.
We’ll continue to work towards 100% situational awareness, and that’s our plan right now, so we can ensure that we know what’s coming across the border. And then, ultimately, in ensuring that we know what’s coming across the border, being able to take an enforcement action on that. The enforcement and deterrence piece on the consequences seems to have a good deterrent effect and helps alleviate some of those hot spots.”
