Thread by @ReichlinMelnick

For the first 5 years after Porvaznik joined in 1988 there were only around 4,000 Border Patrol agents.

Crossing the border back then was so easy that smuggling organizations basically didn't exist and millions of people crossed back and forth annually with few consequences.

https://twitter.com/Anna_Giaritelli/status/1490749469884829696

Porvaznik's comments are also especially odd because for the first 18 years of his time as a Border Patrol agent, releasing migrants was a common practice.

Here's George Bush in *2006* calling for the end of "catch and release." georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/…

https://twitter.com/Anna_Giaritelli/status/1490749469884829696

The reality is that there have been only a handful of years in the last 50 years in which at least 10% or more people crossing the border *haven't* been released—basically about 10 years out of the last 15, all of which coincide with periods of low migration of non-Mexicans.

The logistical issues which Bush referenced in his 2006 speech (e.g. lack of detention space) remained true in 2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2021.

Even if a President wants to "deport them all," it's logistically (and often legally) impossible in times of high migration.

This is why I always talk about rethinking border processing.

If George Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden all tried and failed to "end catch and release" for anything more than a year or three, then why do people keep insisting it's possible?

We need a new path.