The Border Patrol has abruptly cancelled a news conference in Laredo by the commander of its operations in South Texas on direct order from the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.
Border Patrol spokeswoman Sara Melendez-De Los Santos told the assembled media 10 minutes after its scheduled start Friday that the regional boss would not be speaking about the agency's efforts to deal with a surge in immigrants.
She emphasized that the event was cancelled by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson.
The Border Patrol has been overwhelmed in South Texas by a more than 70 percent increase in immigrant arrests this year. The Rio Grande Valley sector has made nearly 160,000 arrests since Oct. 1, more than double any other sector on the Southwest border.
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