Illegals taking SELFIES at border wall after unlawfully entering U.S. territory

 Illegal immigrants are apparently taking selfies with the border wall as a background after unlawfully entering U.S. soil.

Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin witnessed the practice firsthand in the border section at the Jacumba area in California's San Diego County. He noted that the unlawful border crossers seem to be unconcerned with exploiting the open border. The network cameras captured several illegal aliens, who crossed with a larger group, taking selfies against the border wall.

"[They're] coming in with no fear of deportation, no fear of removal," Melugin wrote on X. "I watched them as they walked to this border wall right behind me and started posing for selfies and pictures in front of our border wall."

"[It's] as if it's a tourist attraction or a great background for their TikTok [videos] or Instagram photos. It's just remarkable to see that some of them just think it's like a joke."

This was not the first time Melugin observed such behavior from unlawful border crossers goaded to enter the U.S. illegally, thanks to President Joe Biden's open borders policy. In March, he recounted a similar instance – which happened at the Arizona section of the border wall.

The Fox News correspondent shared a video of illegals captured in Lukeville, Arizona. It captured dozens of women, children and families dressed in clean, casual clothes and carrying their belongings. Several of the migrants in the group are seen holding mobile phones and celebrating their illegal entry into the United States.

"If no action is taken, buckle up for the rest of the year – if the last three years are any indication. Especially if migrants feel they need to get in before Biden is potentially voted out of office," Melugin wrote on X. 

Op-ed: Selfies contribute to INCREASE in illegals

In an August 2022 op-ed published in the New York Post, Center for Immigration Studies Senior National Security Fellow Todd Bensman pointed out that these selfies are the main reason why the number of illegal immigrants is growing by the day.

"Smartphone technology is a massive driver of migration, sending the message to Central and South America of 'wish you were here,'" he wrote. Despite remarks from the federal government dissuading would-be migrants from crossing, pictures of "handouts, checks, documents and new clothes" sent by illegals already in the U.S. only serve to convince them that it's worth entering American soil unlawfully.

According to Bensman, migrants simply looked at the selfies of their friends, neighbors and relatives being allowed in when Vice President Kamala Harris discouraged border crossers from entering. In the same way, migrants simply looked at selfies of unaccompanied minors who made it when Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas dissuaded parents from sending their children to cross the "dangerous" southern border.

"This works like any flash mob. It is always the phones that tell and show where the deportation and robbery zones are, so the crowds coming up behind can divert elsewhere. It is always the phones that tell of and show where to find the welcome mats and free giveaways, often exactly where and how to get them," he wrote.

"If knowledge is power and a picture [is] worth a thousand words, no clarion call has more influence on migrant decisions and action than video selfies loosed from cellphones. This is what launched and sustained the greatest mass migration crisis in U.S. history."