ABC’s Rivers: ‘I’ve Never Seen Anything’ Like ‘Hundreds’ Lined up at Border in Years, Officials Say They Can’t Keep up

On Monday’s edition of ABC’s “World News Tonight,” ABC News Correspondent Matt Rivers reported from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico along the U.S.-Mexico border and stated that, in his years covering the border, he’s “never seen anything quite like” the “hundreds of people lined up” near the border.

Rivers said, “These are the scenes in the shadow of downtown El Paso, hundreds of migrants crossing the Rio Grande in a matter of hours overnight, many forced to spend the night on the river bank burning whatever they could find for warmth.”

He continued, “There are hundreds of people lined up on the other side of this river here, I’ve been coming to this exact spot in Ciudad Juarez for years now covering migration, I’ve never seen anything quite like this.”

Rivers also reported, “Border Patrol officials telling ABC News they are at capacity and have to send migrants elsewhere along the border. Unauthorized border crossings in El Paso are now averaging more than 2,400 arrests and detainments per day. Today, adults carrying children through the river, this ahead of next week’s possible end of Title 42, a Trump-era policy that allows for the immediate expulsion of migrants without allowing them to seek asylum.”

Rivers concluded, “[T]he deputy city manager of El Paso says federal help is desperately needed in his city, saying, quote, we could see up to thousands a day passing through our community, nobody can keep up with that.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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