Illegal immigrants at the southern border were reportedly spotted using a rideshare service to get into the United States after growing tired of waiting for Border Patrol to pick them up, according to Fox News.
Colombian migrants arrived at the border near Jacumba, California, and reportedly waited for several hours for Border Patrol agents to arrive. After several hours, they gave up on the idea and used the Lyft app to come pick them up and transport them to another destination, the report explained.
The incident appears to provide an example demonstrating how overwhelmed the Border Patrol has become over the years during the ongoing border crisis. The agency has struggled to keep up with the constant influx of illegal immigrants and asylum seekers attempting to gain entry into the country. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: Overwhelmed Northern Border Agents Are ‘Counting Down The Days Until Retirement,’ Union Chief Says)
Troy A. Miller, Border Patrol’s acting commissioner, told The Hill in December that “The encounter levels we are currently seeing across the southwest border are presenting a serious challenge to the men and women of [Customs and Border Protection].”
Since President Joe Biden took office, Border Patrol agents have had over 8 million encounters with illegal immigrants, according to a joint report from the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the House Committee on Homeland Security.
The situation has become so challenging that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has been forced to scale down agents at official ports of entry to cover the spaces between, where many illegals have been smuggled into the country, according to The Hill. Miller indicated that smugglers are “recklessly putting migrants into harm’s way: in remote locations across the border, onto the tops of trains, or into the waters of Rio Grande River.”
