Harris in Paris: VP wades into Libyan refugee issue, as illegals flood southern border unabated

Vice President Kamala Harris is under fire for traveling to France this week, where the Biden administration's "border czar" addressed an Eastern European migrant crisis, while meanwhile a record number of illegal immigrants continue to pour across the U.S. southern border.

Harris visited Paris this week to attend an international conference to encourage peaceful elections in Libya to curb the flow of refugees fleeing the strife-torn Muslim nation for Europe.

The vice president's goal was to voice "a deep concern for human rights and the situation of migrants and refugees, and reinforce the imperative of protecting vulnerable people, including those fleeing conflict," a senior administration official said. 

Meanwhile, Americans living at the southern border have been beset by rising crime and disease many officials in the region attribute to the Biden administration's lax border security policies. 

In fiscal year 2021, more than 1.7 million people were encountered at the southern border. In July, Customs and Border Patrol encounters reached a 21-year high of 213,593 people illegally entering the U.S. The number was slightly over 192, 000 in September. Official numbers for October haven't been released.

Data obtained by Just The News reveals illegal immigration is continuing unabated in the Rio Grande Valley, overwhelming Border Patrol agents and Texas law enforcement.

On Tuesday, for example, RGV Border Patrol agents apprehended 1,894 people in one day, compared to 1,463 encounters on Monday. On Tuesday, there were 3,504 illegal aliens in RGV Border Patrol custody.

As of Tuesday, total encounters in the RGV since Oct. 1 were 57,694; total documented RGV got-aways, people who evade capture, were 5,774. 

The current total in custody for Border Patrol across the southern border, which changes daily, is 10,359. After the 3,504 held in the RGV, the next largest group of detainees is 1,362 in Del Rio, followed by 1,094 in Laredo, 865 in El Paso and 73 in Big Bend.

Of those in custody nationwide, 48.2% are single adults, 43.8% are family units, and 7.9% are unaccompanied children. 

On Wednesday, RGV apprehensions totaled 2,027, including 647 family groups, 355 single adults from Mexico, 720 single adults not from Mexico, and 278 unaccompanied children. 

As of Wednesday, RGV Border Patrol agents were averaging 2,400 to 4,000 detainees per day in custody, processing and releasing 1,400 to 1,800 per day. Those released are given a NTAOR (notice to appear on recognizance) to later attend a trial with an unspecified date or court location, and released into the interior of the U.S. 

On Thursday, RGV agents had 3,428 in custody. 

President Biden has yet to visit the southern border.  In June, Harris went to El Paso, which is one of the least crossed areas along the southern border due to Mexican cartel infighting on the other side of the border. 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott this week blasted Biden for neglecting the crisis at the U.S. southern border while focusing instead on a refugee crisis along the Belarusian-Polish border in Eastern Europe. The European Union alleges that Belarusian strongman Alexander Lukashenko is enticing Middle Eastern migrants to his country, then funneling them into Europe via Poland in reprisal for EU human rights sanctions against him.

"President Biden's concern for other nations' borders, while he turns a blind eye to the United States' borders that he swore to protect and defend, is appalling," Abbott's Press Secretary Renae Eze told DailyMail.com. "His reckless open border policies have created an ongoing crisis along our southern border, leading to a 61-year record-high number of illegal immigrants surging into our state."

A Biden National Security Council official told the Daily Mail that "while the situations in Belarus and the United States are different, the Biden administration has been consistent on its condemnation of human trafficking across the world," the British news outlet reported.

In addition to Border Patrol apprehensions, Texas law enforcement officials have apprehended over 76,000 illegal aliens through Operation Lone Star, which the governor launched in March. More than 8,800 illegal aliens have been arrested for committing state or federal crimes, including human smuggling, the governor's office reports.