Border Patrol leadership in the Tucson region of Arizona is calling for "all hands on deck" to respond to an "unprecedented surge" of illegal immigrants, the Washington Examiner has learned.

Federal law enforcement agents in southeastern Arizona sounded the alarm in conversations with the Washington Examiner on Monday, disclosing that agents have been pulled from manning the highway checkpoints, canceled all training classes, and even diverted from desk jobs, such as posting updates on the organization's local social media, a sign of how strained the agency has become responding to thousands crossing in just one part of the southern border each day.

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"As you are aware, Tucson Sector is experiencing an unprecedented surge of illegal entries in our [area of responsibility]," Tucson leadership wrote in an email to agents this afternoon, according to a copy obtained by the Washington Examiner on Monday. "[T]his morning we had more than 5,000 people in custody - far more than our holding capacity."

Since October, agents in Tucson have apprehended more than 100,000 people, including 15,650 immigrants, over the past seven days, the email stated. Tucson is one of nine regions across the 2,000-mile southern border.

"This surge poses immense challenges requiring an 'all hands-on deck' posture to staff vital positions with security, transportation, casework. and triage," the email to staff stated. "To that end, all training, to include Use of Force, Firearms Qualifications, and K9, is cancelled for the remainder of this week."

Tucson Border Patrol Chief John Modlin had hastily announced on social media over the weekend that it was pulling the handful of agents detailed to the regional headquarters to post updates about drug seizures and human smuggling busts on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.

"In light of the ongoing migration surge, all Tucson Sector Border Patrol social media accounts will be temporarily reduced to maximize our available staffing in support of our current operational challenges," Modlin wrote in a post to X. "At this time, all available personnel are needed to address the unprecedented flow. The social media team will return once the situation permits."

Tucson agents who were not authorized to speak with media but spoke anonymously and said the decision to pull agents from desk jobs came after pushback from agents.

"When the Tucson chief was here in Nogales last week, an agent asked why sector details were still up and running if we were supposed to be all hands on deck," one agent wrote in a text message. "This may be the result of that question."

A second agent said pulling agents from desk jobs at the Tucson regional headquarters was not normal but required given the unusual circumstances.

"It is very odd to stop a Sector detail but we are overburdened with bodies. There is no enforcement of immigration law," said the second agent.

Agents outside Tucson in San Diego said they and agents nationwide are doing "virtual processing," or interviewing immigrants who are physically in Tucson by video in an effort to get through intake.

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As of earlier this year, more than 2 million immigrants who illegally crossed the southern border had been released into the United States since 2021. Claiming asylum is not a requirement to be released into the country.

A Border Patrol spokesman did not respond to a request for comment about the shift in operations.