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Published January 25, 2017
This is a rush transcript from "On the Record," July 22, 2014. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Did the Obama administration ignore the warning that a humanitarian crisis was brewing at our border? There is news tonight the Obama administration was warned almost a year ago and more than once. The University of Texas El Paso study sounding the alarm that the federal government would not be able to handle the growing flood of immigrants. But look where we are now?
Victor Manjarrez is a former border patrol agent who led the study, he joins us. Good evening, sir.
VICTOR MANJARREZ, FORMER BORDER PATROL AGENT: Greta, good evening.
VAN SUSTEREN: Sir, the study that you did, what was the conclusion that was -- that was reached and when did you first realize -- when did you first notify the federal government?
MANJARREZ: Well, the study first of all was funded actually from the Department Of Homeland Security under our Nationality Center for Border Security and Immigration. We started this project in August really to answer research question. And at that time the research question was how can we help them improve the efficiencies in their system in the Rio Grande Valley. We took two trips into South Texas. A trip to Washington, D.C., spoke to representatives from health and human services, office refugee resettlement. And we did several site visit reports and we issued our report to the department in February of this year. We published it in March 20th of this year. ...
VAN SUSTEREN: Go ahead, I'm sorry, sir.
MANJARREZ: What we found on the record, Greta, was that there were several systematic challenges that the various components were facing in terms from data sharing to communications to transportation issues, draining on manpower.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right. In terms of, I mean, we are now facing -- now we are facing humanitarian crisis on all these kids. And I'm going back to August 2013, when your study began and then when you subsequently spoke to HHS and made your site visit. Did you at any time notify the federal government or anybody in congress or anybody in HHS that there was -- that there were a number of children coming across the border or that it was going to get worse, that this was a problem?
MANJARREZ: It was pretty clear, actually, when we did the interviews with representatives in the field that's that what they relayed to us, that this was a growing problem. It was going to continue. And as our report indicated one of the primary factors on this was the perceived lack of consequence on the individuals that was crossing, so, in terms of the trend, that was pretty clear not only in our eyes but in our trip reports that we filed with the department.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right. And when you say representatives in the field was that be like -- members of congress, was that agency -- Obama administration people? Who is that?
MANJARREZ: It would be agency personnel from the office of border patrol from ICE enforcement removal operations, the OR folks. Those level of representatives that we actually spoke to.
VAN SUSTEREN: And their response to you was what, when you raised the red flag?
MANJARREZ: Well, they knew it was a growing concern. It wasn't where they came up and said, you know, you are telling us anything different. They actually recognized and were aware that the trend was really scaling up. They were projecting back in the fall of last year about 60,000 apprehensions of unaccompanied alien children.
VAN SUSTEREN: So, did you expect something would be done to try to meet the problem?
MANJARREZ: Well, that was the whole intent and purpose of our report. Our university's purpose really was to find a scope and breathe of the ongoing issue. And, based on that information, they were going to be two of the universities that were going to help with some modeling in terms of bed space allocation and transportation allocation.
VAN SUSTEREN: Victor, thank you very much for joining us, sir.
MANJARREZ: Thank you, ma'am.
https://www.foxnews.com/transcript/inside-the-study-that-warned-of-the-illegal-immigration-crisis-at-the-southern-border