Among the illegal immigrants and drug traffickers arrested along the southern border is a growing number of sex offenders, according to federal officials.
Border patrol agents in Tucson have arrested 46 convicted sex offenders so far this year, with 10 arrests since March 1, federal officials told a local CBS affiliate.
That number is quickly approaching the total of 69 sex offenders that were arrested in fiscal year 2015.
“Border Patrol agents encounter sex offenders, various people with criminal histories in their course of duty nearly every day,” said Agent Adrienne Crowley, a spokeswoman for the Tucson Sector.
Of the 10 sex offenders arrested in the Tucson Sector since March, eight of them are from Mexico and two others from El Salvador and Honduras.
Every person arrested by the Border Patrol is subject to extensive background checks in order to ensure violent criminals aren’t falling through the cracks, CBS reported.
“Border Patrol agents in Tucson Sector face various threats in the field,” Agent Crowley said. “Every person they encounter potentially has a criminal history so we really don’t know what we’re working with until we bring that person in and run those records checks. Agents are working every day to make our community safer … by getting those people off the streets.”
Last month, it was revealed that the Department of Homeland Security was planning to cut back aerial monitoring of the southern border by 50 percent.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration says it is bracing for another surge of unaccompanied children with Customs and Border Protection making preparations for at least 75,000 additional minors in its fiscal year 2017 budget request to Congress.
• Kellan Howell can be reached at khowell@washingtontimes.com.
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