Forty-five foreign nationals turned themselves in to Border Patrol agents in one day in one area of the Texas Rio Grande Valley Sector (RGV). This is the largest group of illegal aliens doing so since President Trump took office and he incorrectly claimed Obama’s catch and release directives had ended. Agents warn this is just the beginning and that the numbers are likely to grow again to Obama-era levels. The mass surrender occurred over the weekend of June 18, 2017.

Border Patrol Agent Chris Cabrera, speaking to Breitbart Texas in his role as a spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC), stated, “We have been warning the American public that catch and release has not ended and that simple rhetoric is not enough to secure the border. DHS is continuing the same Obama-era policies. People south of our border are realizing that they can still come and that a large number of them will simply be released into U.S. communities with a Notice to Appear form.”

“Forty-two of these illegal aliens turned themselves in out in the field and another three turned themselves in at the McAllen Border Patrol station. If you want this problem fixed, you need to actually listen to the Border Patrol agents on the ground. Sadly, that is not happening right now,” said Agent Cabrera.

The RGV Sector was ground zero for the migrant crisis of 2014 that Breitbart Texas revealed by publishing 43 leaked photos of mostly women, children, and teens being warehoused in crowded Border Patrol facilities. The crisis largely occurred due to the Obama Administration and its border deputies creating immigration pull factors and the word spreading throughout Central America.

Now, during the Trump Administration, President Trump has allowed Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to not only keep Obama’s border deputies, but to elevate one of them to lead the Trump border effort, Acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Kevin McAleenan.

Another significant factor is that the region in Mexico immediately south of the McAllen Border Patrol station is controlled by the same faction of the Gulf Cartel that exploited Obama’s catch and release in 2014. The group recently lost its leader, Comandante Toro, and the various warring factions need money for their war and to keep their factions’ numbers high.

With the same bureaucrats in place in CBP, the same Obama-era border policies in place, and with the financial needs of the Gulf Cartel, the circumstances are ripe for the numbers of illegal border-crossers to continue to grow.

Brandon Darby is managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.