The Biden administration moved to shut down drones flying in an area along the U.S. southern border where the administration has thousands upon thousands of migrants being held under an overpass.
Fox News reported that, according to law enforcement sources, the majority of those being held under the overpass are Haitians. The report comes as the Biden administration once again suffered a catastrophic month at the border for the month of August, according to reports this week.
“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,” Fox News reporter Bill Melugin tweeted. “FAA says ‘special security reason.’”
“Fox News has been covering the border nonstop for almost 7 months now, we use the drone constantly, and it has never been an issue,” Melugin said, later adding that the FAA said in a 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.”
WATCH:
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
Earlier in the day, Melugin tweeted, “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.’”
“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. [Border Patrol] w/ limited manpower,” he added. “Another stunning image from our @FoxNews drone team showing the situation at the international bridge in Del Rio, TX, where a law enforcement source tells me there are more than 8,000 migrants waiting to be processed by Border Patrol after crossing illegally into the U.S.”
NEW: Another stunning image from our @FoxNews drone team showing the situation at the international bridge in Del Rio, TX, where a law enforcement source tells me there are more than 8,000 migrants waiting to be processed by Border Patrol after crossing illegally into the U.S. pic.twitter.com/opey70NBNt
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) September 16, 2021
“There were more than 200,000 migrant encounters at the southern border in August, a DHS source told Fox News on Wednesday, the second month in a row where the number has been over the 200,000 mark as migrants continue to attempt to enter the U.S.,” Fox News reported. “Additionally, the 208,887 number for August represents a 317% increase over last August 2020 which saw 50,014 encounters — and a 233% increase over August 2019, where there were 62,707 amid that year’s border crisis.”
Chad Wolf, former acting DHS secretary and Heritage visiting fellow, slammed the administration in a statement, saying that Biden’s “failed border-security policies are simply unsustainable.”
“The men and women of federal law enforcement cannot continue to deal with these crisis-level numbers. They are already overwhelmed and overburdened. The breakdown is coming,” Wolf said. “Hundreds have been pulled off the line, from defending and safeguarding our borders, to process and care for the flood of illegal aliens apprehended at the border. Cartels and smugglers have taken advantage of our weakness, with record numbers of not just people, but narcotics, pouring across an increasingly undefended border.”
“President Biden simply isn’t listening, and I fear that we are staring down the prospect of a preventable disaster stemming from this crisis,” Wolf added. “Sadly, just as we saw in Afghanistan in recent weeks, it seems that for this administration, politics trumps national security.”
This report has been updated to include additional information.