Easing back into the news cycle, I want to note Byron York’s Examiner column “A renewed, intensified crisis at the border.” Byron’s column takes off from the Twitter feed of FOX News reporter Bill Melugin. Byron aptly notes:
The Twitter feed of Fox News reporter Bill Melugin has been an extraordinary place for the last few days. Melugin has spent a lot of time reporting from the U.S.-Mexico border, and recently he began telling readers about a surge in illegal crossers at the international bridge in Del Rio, Texas.
The crossers are coming by the thousands, Melugin reported. “Per source, the number of migrants waiting to be processed has now swelled to approximately 8,200,” Melugin tweeted Thursday morning. “It was 4,000 yesterday AM. Doubled in one day. Border Patrol overwhelmed, and I’m told the situation is ‘out of control.'” Melugin included dramatic photos showing the extent of the situation[.]
BREAKING: Our drone is back over the international bridge in Del Rio, TX. Per source, the number of migrants waiting to be processed has now swelled to approx 8,200. It was 4,000 yesterday AM. Doubled in one day. BP overwhelmed, & I’m told situation is “out of control” @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/ThJJJ0JWCT
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) September 16, 2021
FOX News is is course the go-to source for news on the collapse of our southern border. Yesterday FOX News reported “Migrant encounters over 200,000 again in August, as border surge continues.”
Following these developments, I wondered whether anyone outside the orbit of FOX News has a clue. FOX News has a story on that too: “ABC, CBS, NBC networks dramatically dropped off border crisis coverage in August: Study.” This must be yet another front of what Donald Luskin called The Conspiracy to Keep You Poor and Stupid
In his most recent tweets Melugin reports that FNC’s drone has been grounded by the FAA. They really don’t want that eye in the sky.
NEW: We’ve learned that the FAA just implemented a two week TFR (Temporary Flight Restrictions) over the international bridge in Del Rio, TX, meaning we can no longer fly our FOX drone over it to show images of the thousands of migrants. FAA says “special security reason”. pic.twitter.com/aJrjAPO2Pz
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) September 17, 2021
UPDATE: FAA statement
“The Border Patrol requested the temporary flight restriction due to drones interfering with law enforcement flights on the border. As with any temporary flight restriction, media is able to call the FAA to make requests to operate in the area.”@FoxNews
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) September 17, 2021
Byron’s column also takes up Melugin’s reporting on the huge Haitian component of the assembled multitude waiting to be processed in Del Rio. Reuters adds that the multitude also includes Cubans, Venezuelans, and Nicaraguans. The Haitians must have found a home somewhere south of the border before they hit Texas.
Law enforcement source on the ground at the bridge this morning just sent me this video showing the situation there. I’m told a large majority of the migrants are Haitians and more are crossing into the US and arriving at the bridge by the minute. BP w/ limited manpower @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/dHWCrhFikq
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) September 16, 2021
Byron’s column should be read in its entirety. Whole thing here. Melugin’s Twitter feed is here.
We won't let the FAA control the news you get. Watch this video and see how @faanews tried to shut down our newsgathering on the southern border. That can't happen. Our own @BillFOXLA will be back with us on @FoxNews tomorrow at 8pm ET. pic.twitter.com/4WIJCC0O4y
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) September 17, 2021
UPDATE: Byron is back on the case this morning with “Disaster in Del Rio.” Byron writes:
Many of the Haitians who have arrived in Del Rio had left their country long before the quake. “More than 29,000 Haitians have arrived over the past 11 months,” reports the Washington Post. “Some say the economic toll of the pandemic pushed them to leave, while others see a more welcoming U.S. administration offering them a fleeting opportunity to reach the United States.” So they are coming now.
But this is not about Haiti. While the latest flare-up of the border crisis involves thousands of Haitians, the fact is, over the last several months, Border Patrol officials have detained people from at least 90 countries all around the world crossing illegally into the U.S. It’s not just Mexico or the Northern Triangle area, either. Ninety countries.
They’re all drawn by one thing: the belief, encouraged by the Biden administration, that if they can manage to cross the border into the U.S. illegally, they will be allowed to stay. Given Biden’s policies, that is an entirely rational calculation on their part.
The Biden administration is overwhelming us with policy-made catastrophes, Cloward-Piven style. Byron’s column concludes on precisely this note: “[T]he surge at Del Rio is just the latest disaster that is Biden’s border policy. It’s not an accident. It is not an unintended consequence. The president and his top aides formulated these policies knowing full well they would create powerful new incentives for would-be migrants to cross illegally into the U.S. And now it’s happening, more and more and more.”
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