Migrants Cross Border River Yards from House Speaker’s Texas Press Conference

EAGLE PASS, Texas — A press conference held by U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson was interrupted by a group of migrants crossing the Rio Grande. The group of five migrants, including two children, crossed the border river within yards of the press conference and under the watch of the Del Rio Sector Border Patrol chief patrol agent.

Breitbart Texas watched as Speaker Johnson and a delegation of Republican congressmen addressed reporters at the conclusion of a border security briefing by Texas officials. During the presser, a group of five migrants can be seen crossing the Rio Grande within 50 feet of the congressional delegation and reporters.

Del Rio Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Juan Bernal was on a Border Patrol riverboat and watched helplessly as the group of migrants waded across the river that separates Texas and Mexico. The delegation watched as the migrant family completed the crossing and walked up the boat ramp within yards of the press conference.

A video posted on X by NBC journalist Jake Sherman illustrates the close proximity of the crossing migrants to the press conference being carried out by Speaker Johnson.

Here is video of migrants crossing into the United States just a few feet from ⁦@SpeakerJohnson⁩ and House Republicans. pic.twitter.com/IL0T7bequa

— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 3, 2024

The migrant crossing put a damper on the Potemkin village set up by Border Patrol officials who “cleaned up” the area prior to the visit by the congressional delegation.

With just hours to go before the largest yet congressional visit arrives at the border in the small Texas town of Eagle Pass, a source within Customs and Border Protection told Breitbart Texas what the delegation would witness pales in comparison to the migrant surge and grossly overcrowded facilities experienced during the month of December. A nearby soft-sided processing facility designed to accommodate 1,000 migrants that has routinely held nearly 6,000 during the month is now holding less than 500.

In December, as reported by Breitbart Texas, more than 70,000 migrants made landfall in the Del Rio Sector. Most entries centered around Eagle Pass and the outdoor staging site near the Camino Real International Bridge. The record-breaking influx of migrants prompted Customs and Border Protection to shut down cross-border rail operations at Eagle Pass, the second busiest rail port of entry in the state of Texas.

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.