Arrests of migrants at the southern border are down, but the agents who patrol South Texas say that's only part of the story, because busts involving drug smugglers are spiking, and that's making their job even more dangerous.
"The ones that are crossing, they're more prone to committing violence against our agents," Agent Hector Garza, president of Local 2455, tells Newsradio 1200 WOAI.
Agents are seeing a surge in both cocaine and heroin seizures, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. This month, customs agents seized a shipment of nearly 200 pounds of liquid methamphetamine, hidden in the fuel tank of pickup truck, which was stopped at the Hidalgo International Bridge. At the same time the CPB numbers show that in March, agents made 12,193 apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border. That's the lowest number in at least 17 years.
Garza says the non-drug smuggling migrants they do catch are frequent flyers."Three, four, five deportations," he explains.
"I know we've had a case in Laredo where a guy had been deported seven times."
He says, since ICE is deporting more people, they're simply turning around and coming right back.