Your Morning: Border Patrol agent says cartels control the border

A closer look: In the “Crisis on the Border” special, NewsNation reporters fanned out nationwide and reported live on the border crisis and its impacts on communities, education and crime rates. NewsNation teams also rode along with law enforcement using night-vision technology to show the situation at the southern border. Watch > 

‘We don’t control the border’: An anonymous Border Patrol agent said in the special edition of “Dan Abrams Live” that cartels “control the border,” not the U.S. and its agents. “Everything that we do is a reaction to things that they have planned,” the agent exclusively told NewsNation’s Ali Bradley. “Usually, we’re chasing around pawns while the kings and queens are doing whatever they want.” The agent also said the “border is by no means secure” and law enforcement “has been defunded and overwhelmed.” The agent’s warning > 

Ride along with ‘brush teams’: So-called “brush teams” help patrol the southern border. The local law enforcement groups scour the stretch of land where migrants sometimes hide and run. NewsNation’s Ali Bradley caught up with a brush team in the southeast corner of Cochise County, Arizona, where cartel members have carved a path through a national forest. Watch > 

‘Smuggler’s Highway’: Sheriff’s deputies in Pinal County, Arizona, are cracking down on a stretch of highway connecting Arizona and California nicknamed the “Smuggler’s Highway,” which has become a hot spot for smuggling people from the southern border to Phoenix. Authorities tell NewsNation it isn’t just cartels smuggling migrants but also U.S. citizens trying to make money. Full report > 

Editor’s note: This section of the newsletter mentions suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, resources or someone to talk to, you can find it at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline website or by calling 800-273-8255. People are available to talk 24/7. Crisis resources > 

Video: Footage obtained exclusively by NewsNation shows the strife between Mica Miller and her husband John-Paul Miller weeks before she died by suicide. Mica Miller was found dead April 27 at Lumber State Park in Lumberton, North Carolina, about 70 miles north of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The Robeson County, North Carolina, medical examiner ruled her death a suicide.

NewsNation correspondent Rich McHugh obtained reports from the Myrtle Beach Police Department showing at least eight contacts by Mica Miller with officers in the weeks before her death. In some of the police complaints, Mica Miller accused her pastor husband of stealing her car, installing a tracking device, hospitalizing her against her will and “grooming” her. John-Paul Miller’s attorney, Russel Long, said the “grooming” accusation “couldn’t be farther from the truth.” Long’s statement repeats authorities’ conclusion that Mica Miller died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, a finding that Long said “completely exonerates Pastor Miller of any wrongdoing.” Read more >

Homes worth less? Around one in 37 homes are now worth much less than their remaining mortgage balance, according to new data released Thursday. Across the country, the share of “seriously underwater” mortgages  — meaning homes with an outstanding loan at least 25% more than the market value — rose from 2.6% to 2.7% in the first quarter, per real estate data firm ATTOM. See which states have a higher share of “underwater” homes > 

Buying a home: Americans are feeling historically bad about the housing market. Twenty-one percent of people say it’s a good time to buy a home, the lowest level on record, according to a new Gallup survey. The sentiment comes as market conditions have soured and prospective home buyers face elevated mortgage rates, rising prices and limited supply. Most of those surveyed — nearly 70% — expect prices in their area to go up over the next year, Gallup found. What to know >