Video of an American man and his cohort of geese hunters purportedly detained in a cage by federal agents while trying to get back into the U.S. from Mexico has gone viral.
Illegal immigration is a top issue for Americans, according to a Gallup poll released on Tuesday. For the first time in about five years, border security is viewed as more important than addressing governmental or economic concerns.
The political implications of migrant surges into the country have spurred more animus following the killing of 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley in Georgia, allegedly at the hands of 26-year-old illegal Venezuelan migrant Jose Ibarra, and other incidents involving U.S. citizens and illegal migrants.
On Thursday, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are expected to visit the Texas cities of Brownsville and Eagle Pass, respectively.
Ryan Phillips, a business owner and entrepreneur from Destin, Florida, posted Wednesday on TikTok and X, formerly Twitter, that he and others who joined him on a goose hunting trip were detained by federal agents at the U.S.-Mexico border, specifically near Tijuana on the California border.
"This is what happens when an American citizen tries to come back into the United States of America after hunting in Mexico legally for geese," Phillips, whose username is @ryanindestin, said in the video. "Meanwhile, thousands of people are walking across the river in Texas and Arizona.
"But American citizens [are] sitting in a cage while Customs looks at two shotguns and some geese to be taxedermied [sic]."
Newsweek reached out to Phillips via social media and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) via email for comment.
California's illegal immigration numbers have risen for three consecutive years, from about 260,000 in fiscal year 2021 to 362,000 and 450,000 in fiscal years 2022 and 2023, respectively, according to Customs and Border Protection data.
Numbers this fiscal year have already exceeded 203,000 in a four-month period, with January experiencing about an 11,000-migrant decrease compared to December.
As of Thursday morning, the video had been viewed over 1.4 million times on TikTok—the most views of any of his 63 videos. The video has been commented on nearly 8,300 times.
"That's how f---- up the feds are," reads the most-liked comment. "Should have done a spray tan and crossed illegally."
"American politicians hate American citizens," commented another.
Others suggested that Phillips and others contact their legislative representatives and report the incident.
Not everyone bought Phillips' video as an indictment of U.S. border policies.
"It's because you morons entered another country with firearms?" one TikTok user said. "Other countries don't take too kindly to people showing up with guns."
"My thing is you have no problem going to Mexico and hunting but you have a problem with Mexicans coming to the United States," another said.
Phillip's Instagram page, which has the same handle as his TikTok and X accounts, shows a video within the past 24 hours of him in California, seemingly showing that he and the others had been released by federal authorities.
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Nick Mordowanec is a Newsweek reporter based in Michigan. His focus is reporting on Ukraine and Russia, along with social ... Read more
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