NORMANDY, Texas — Approximately 400 migrants crossed into the small Texas community of Normandy in one single group of mostly adults. Mixed into the group of migrants that crossed the Rio Grande on Sunday were several small children who were part of family units braving the sweltering heat.
Human smugglers led the group of migrants across the Rio Grande and directed them to a highway nearby. As the migrants reached the highway, Border Patrol agents from Eagle Pass arrived and began to inventory personal property and coordinate transportation. Breitbart Texas observed as the migrants, many of whom were from Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, and Nicaragua, were sorted for transport based on gender and family unit status.
The video shows single adult females and family units prioritized for transport to a processing facility recently constructed by the Department of Homeland Security less than five miles away. According to agents on the ground, females and family units with small children are transported first due to the severe heat wave impacting the area. Temperatures have been consistently higher than 100 degrees Fahrenheit on most days.
The Border Patrol’s Del Rio Sector, which includes Normandy and Eagle Pass, leads the nation in apprehensions on most days, according to a source within Customs and Border Protection. Migrant apprehensions consistently exceed 1,500 per day in the Eagle Pass and Normandy areas. The increase in apprehensions leads to a constant struggle with overcrowding at processing facilities and Border Patrol stations in the area. The construction of the latest facility designed to hold 1,000 migrants provided some relief to overcrowding, but its capacity was exceeded shortly after opening, according to the source.
The large migrant groups crossing the Rio Grande in the area daily, sometimes numbering more than 400 strong, are more taxing to the agency’s resources but constitute only a portion of the Border Patrol’s apprehensions in the city. Surrounding communities in Texas are routinely impacted by migrants who are actively attempting to elude apprehension and traverse local farms and ranches, damaging fences and leading authorities on vehicle pursuits.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, 191,898 migrants were apprehended crossing the border illegally in June. The recently released report, as reported by Breitbart Texas, shows 70 percent of the 1.6 million migrants apprehended this fiscal year are single adults.
According to a CBP source, most of the migrants in Sunday’s group will be released to a non-government shelter and allowed to pursue asylum claims in the United States.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.
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