How does one patrol the border from a desk?

A border enforcement advocacy organization sees a clear problem with the fact that more Border Patrol agents are tied to desks instead of being in the field apprehending illegal aliens.

The Washington Times reports that on a key stretch of the border in Texas, just 12.5 percent of the agents on duty were patrolling along the border one Sunday last month. At one point during the day shift, that worked out to 16 agents patrolling more than 55 miles. Five of them were on the waters of the Rio Grande, so that left just 11 agents — one for every five miles — to watch the land.

National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd told The Times there are too many managers and too many agents on duty stuck on administrative tasks, which means too few people are out stopping illegal immigrants, drugs, and other contraband from being smuggled into the U.S.

"That's one of things I guess President Trump had in mind when he decided to send National Guard troops down there," suggests Ira Mehlman, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). "They can fill in for a lot of these clerical jobs that need to be done and free up the Border Patrol agents to do what they are trying to do, which is patrol the border and enforce our laws."

He tells OneNewsNow there is another way to relieve the manpower problem without needing a permanent National Guard presence.

"If we start sending clear messages that discourage people from coming across the border illegally, that would also free up a lot of Border Patrol agents to do what they're supposed to do: Preventing people from getting in in the first place," Mehlman concludes.