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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (March 29, 2019)
A10 THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2019 Border Patrol orders quick releases of families By ASTRID GALVAN and COLLEEN LONG Associated Press WASHINGTON — The number of migrant fami- lies and children entering the U.S. from Mexico is so high that Border Patrol is immedi- ately releasing them instead of transferring them to the agency responsible for their release, forcing local govern- ments to help coordinate their housing, meals and travel. “We need to work toward a clean sweep,” Border Patrol Deputy Chief of Oper- ations Richard Hudson said in a letter sent to sector chiefs Thursday. “This should be our daily battle rhythm.” Agents are still doing medical screenings and crim- inal checks, but the decision means thousands of families will be released without fi rst going through U.S. Immigra- tion and Customs Enforce- ment, which manages their deportation cases. The Del Rio and Rio Grande Valley sectors in Texas and the Yuma, Arizona, sector earlier announced that agents would begin to release families on their own recog- nizance. A Border Patrol offi cial said Wednesday that El Paso and San Diego planned on doing the same. Some sectors were not part of the change, including Tuc- son, Arizona and El Centro, California. Families are typically released with notices to appear in immigration court due to legal restrictions on detaining them and lack of holding space. Until now, Customs and Border Pro- tection has detained them briefl y before turning them over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, gen- erally within 72 hours, to be released pending the out- come of their immigration cases. The move came as Home- land Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen wrote to Congress asking for emer- gency funding for humani- tarian and operational needs, and the ability to detain fami- lies together as long as neces- sary to deport people faster. “The volume of ‘vulner- AP Photo/Cedar Attanasio Central American migrants wait for food in El Paso, Texas, in a pen erected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection to process a surge of migrant families and unaccompanied minors. able populations’ is unsus- tainable. Our system has been able to cope with high numbers in the past, but the composition of today’s fl ows makes them virtually unman- ageable,” she wrote. Arrests all along the southern border have sky- rocketed in recent months. Border agents are on track to make 100,000 arrests and denials of entry at the south- ern border this month, over half of which are families with children. To manage the crush, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is reas- signing 750 border inspec- tors from their usual duties at the ports of entry to help Border Patrol keep pace with arrivals in between ports of entry. The head of the agency held a press conference in El Paso on Wednesday to say the breaking point had arrived. But federal lawmakers have fought over whether there is a “crisis” at the bor- der, particularly amid Pres- ident Donald Trump’s push for a border wall that he claimed will solve all the immigration problems. Wis- consin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, Chairman of the Senate Homeland Secu- rity Committee, said Thurs- day the evidence shows the immigration system is crack- ing under the strain. “The sad reality is that we now have a virtual open border for any migrant who crosses with a minor, and our border security enforcement has been reduced to a mere speed bump for migrants on their path to long-term occu- pancy in the United States,” he said, adding border offi - cers are being asked to per- form an impossible task with no help from Congress. Bump stocks are turned in or destroyed as ban takes effect By LISA MARIE PANE Associated Press BOISE, Idaho — The larg- est supplier of bump stocks turned in its entire remaining inventory to be destroyed — some 60,000 devices. Wash- ington state’s buyback pro- gram was so popular it ran out of money. One dealer held a “Viking funeral” for his last bump stock, pour- ing a can of beer on it and then melting it down with a fl amethrower. A nationwide ban took effect Tuesday on bump stocks, the attachment used by the gunman in the 2017 Las Vegas massacre to make his weapons fi re rapidly like machine guns. How many of the esti- AP Photo/Rick Bowmer A device called a ‘bump stock’ is attached to a semi-automatic rifl e at the Gun Vault store and shooting range in South Jordan, Utah. mated half-million devices believed to be in circulation in the U.S. are still around is anyone’s guess, but in the weeks leading up to the ban, there were signs that many were destroyed or turned in as required. Anyone in possession of a bump stock from now on can be charged with a federal offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The Bureau of Alco- hol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives outlawed the attachments at President Donald Trump’s direction after the Las Vegas gunman rained fi re from his high-rise hotel suite on concertgoers, killing 58 people in the dead- liest mass shooting in mod- ern U.S. history. On Thursday, the Supreme Court declined to put the ban on hold. As the prohibition drew near, RW Arms in Fort Worth, Texas, featured a countdown clock on its web- site and heavily promoted last chances to buy the acces- sories. By the time the ban took effect, RW Arms was left with 60,000, probably worth millions, since they sell for around $150 to $250 each. The company turned over crates of them to the ATF, and a video showed boxes being loaded onto a conveyer belt and fed into an industrial grinder. Washington state set aside $150,000 to offer owners $150 for each device they turned in to police. Within weeks, the money had been used up. The ATF declined to say how many people brought their bump stocks to an ATF offi ce. T.J. Kirgin, owner of a fi rearms tactical gear com- pany in St. Peters, Missouri, said that in the weeks before the measure went into effect, he made one last sweep through his warehouse to make sure he didn’t have any more devices left. And then he took his very last one and with some friends held a mock funeral for it, reducing it to a hunk of melted plastic embedded in a rock. While gun control activ- ists welcomed the end of the line for a device blamed for horrifying carnage, Kir- gin called it not just the day bump stocks died but the day freedom died. “If they can do this with a piece of plastic, then they’ll be able to do it with another piece of plastic and another piece of metal, another piece of plastic,” he said. “And it’s just systematically taking away Second Amendment rights.” PRIVATE EVENT FACILITY RENTAL MONSTER TRUCK SHOWS GUN & KNIFE SHOWS ANTIQUE SHOWS DOG SHOWS & MUCH MORE Full Service Grooming Call 503-739-7347 or visit our website at Full line of Pet Beach Gear www.lewisandbark.dog Pet Food and Supplies 753 1st Avenue, Seaside B u n e m o S s a B y Ne d ath Reserve your Grooming appointment before Easter, & receive an Easter treat for your pooch! 92937 Walluski Loop Astoria, Oregon • 503-325-4600 Check out our website and Facebook page for 2019 events! W W W. C L AT S O P C O FA I R E X P O . C O M 37th Annual Crab, Seafood & Wine Festival April 26th - 28th The Clatsop County Fair July 30th - Aug 3rd MidLand coming to the Clatsop County Fair August 2nd!
