By In what is becoming an all-too-regular occurrence, the city of El Paso, Texas, is once again facing a drastic situation due to a surge in illegal immigrant crossings happening at the border. This time the numbers are breaking records.
BREAKING: Video from a contact on the ground in Eagle Pass, TX right now shows a mass of thousands of migrants waiting to be processed by Border Patrol after they crossed illegally today. I’ve spent hundreds of days there over the last 2+ years and I’ve never seen it like this. pic.twitter.com/JPNYY7sPxI
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) December 19, 2023
The mass of people trying to come into the United States has caused the city to shut down its railway crossings at the border bridges in El Paso and Eagle Pass, a move that is expected to have a significant economic impact on Union Pacific and BNSF. The two companies say they operate 24 trains daily at these crossings, which carry a variety of products, including agricultural goods, vehicles, automotive parts, chemicals, and consumer goods for companies across North America.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is temporarily suspending freight train railway crossings at border bridges in El Paso and Eagle Pass to shift staffing because of a surging numbers of migrants, CBP told The El Paso Times.
The border agency temporarily suspended operations at the international railway crossings starting at 8 a.m. (local time) on Monday, Dec. 18, at bridges in El Paso and in Eagle Pass in South Texas.
CBP said that staff is being redirected to assist the U.S. Border Patrol with taking migrants into custody and processing while prioritizing border security in what CBP described as an “evolving situation.”
The city of El Paso’s online migrant crisis information dashboard on Sunday reported more than 1,500 daily migrant encounters by CBP in the El Paso area along with 2,695 migrants in custody and 363 daily migrant releases. By comparison, daily migrant encounters were down to about 450 at the end of May, following the wave before the end of the Title 42 pandemic restrictions.
The shutting down of train crossing is the latest of a series of drastic measures taken by Border Patrol to try and stem the tide of migrants coming into the United States. News Nation reported that “deterrence and prevention has been frustrating for agents on the ground as those looking to enter the country use more unconventional tactics. Migrants from around the world are flocking to the U.S. border via freight trains, for instance.
Sources in Mexico told NewsNation that Mexican officials in central Mexico are conducting operations on fright rains, removing migrants en route to the U.S. border. Despite these efforts, the continuous influx of migrants to Eagle Pass has not slowed down.”
Border states have become desperate as the Biden administration, and particularly Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, have refused to act to secure the border.
Last week, Democratic Governor of Arizona Katie Hobbs called on the state’s National Guard to deal with the onrush of migrants storming the Lukeville, Arizona border crossing.
She issued the executive order, her office said, because “the federal government is refusing to do its job to secure our border and keep our communities safe.”
“I am taking action where the federal government won’t.”
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott recently signed a law making it a state crime to enter Texas illegally, a move that will allow local authorities to arrest and prosecute migrants.
The new “sweeping new powers that allow police to arrest migrants who illegally cross the U.S. border and give local judges authority to order them to leave the country, testing the limits of how far a state can go to enforce immigration laws.
Opponents have called the measure the most dramatic attempt by a state to police immigration since a 2010 Arizona law — denounced by critics as the ‘Show Me Your Papers’ bill — that was largely struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court. Immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility, and Texas’ law is also likely to face swift legal challenges.
The law, which takes effect in March, allows any Texas law enforcement officer to arrest people who are suspected of entering the country illegally. Once in custody, they could either agree to a Texas judge’s order to leave the U.S. or be prosecuted on misdemeanor charges of illegal entry. Migrants who don’t leave could face arrest again under more serious felony charges.”
Abbott believes that the new law will spark a drop by “well over 50%, maybe 75%” in illegal crossings occurring in the Lone Star State.
Earlier in the day, showing the seriousness with which they take the issue. The White House appeared to blame Abbott for an illegal immigrant committing murder in Chicago.
REPORTER: "Officials in Chicago have gone so far as to blame the Texas Governor [for the death of a 5-year-old migrant in a Chicago shelter]…"
KJP: "They put them in harms way, and they dehumanize and demonize immigrants." pic.twitter.com/GvuFCPv9TF
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) December 19, 2023
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