Bill Melugin, a national correspondent for Fox News, said a group of armed cartel gunmen were seen on camera illegally crossing the border into Texas. Melugin posted the images to social media and said Border Patrol agents searched the area but did not find anyone.
"Per law enforcement source, a group of suspected cartel gunmen armed with rifles and body armor were seen on cameras crossing illegally into the Fronton, TX area in the RGV Saturday night," Melugin said in an Aug. 8 post on X, formerly Twitter. "Elite Border Patrol BORTAC agents were called out & searched area, but found nobody."
Fox News reported it obtained images depicting individuals believed to be cartel gunmen crossing the southern border of Texas while carrying rifles and wearing body armor. This occurrence marks the latest in a series of instances involving armed individuals suspected to be associated with cartels at the border.
Law enforcement sources said cameras in the Fronton, Texas, area captured three men Aug. 5, who were observed moving through the brush with rifles and body armor, Fox News reported. Despite the deployment of Border Patrol agents, including the BORTAC tactical unit, no findings were reported.
This is the same area where law enforcement apprehended five suspected members of the Northeast Cartel in June, according to Fox News.
Not all of the migrants arriving at the border have criminal records, yet the high influx has sparked concerns about the possibility of individuals evading Border Patrol, Fox News said. Recently, Border Patrol reportedly apprehended four sex offenders, including those convicted of crimes against children, in a single day.
Migrant encounters reportedly peaked in 2021 and began decreasing after the end of Title 42 May 11, dropping from more than 200,000 in May to 144,000 in June. However, Fox News cited the Washington Post and said early data suggests a potential increase in July, with a reported 30% surge.
According to a separate Fox News article posted the next day, daily border crossings surged to 1,900 in July, marking a substantial 134% rise from June's figure of 812 daily arrivals. John Ladd, an Arizona rancher who appeared on "Fox and Friends," said border conditions are getting worse.
Ladd estimates seeing about 15 migrants crossing his ranch every hour and said Border Patrol has been unable to stop them. Arizona Sheriff Mark Dannels of Cochise County said Biden has "abandoned" the border, according to the second Fox News article.
"Just in the first five months, we've had over 683 arrests for border-related crimes in my county, 621 were felony crimes," Dannels said to Fox News. "This goes from all the way to murder, all the way down to the pursuits."
The Washington Examiner reported in June there were already 127 non-citizens on the FBI terror watchlist who were arrested attempted to enter the U.S.
According to a Gallup poll, the U.S.-Mexico border situation is viewed as a "crisis" by 39% of Americans, while 33% see it as a "major problem," 22% perceive it as a "minor problem" and 5% consider it "not a problem," survey results reported.
