Border Agents in Texas Go High-Tech as Migrant Crossings Surge Ahead of Title 42’s End

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents began using a new Mobile Intake Application to speed the collection of migrants’ data as the number of apprehensions increase ahead of the expected end of Title 42. The Brownsville Station reports more than a thousand migrants being apprehended on a daily basis in recent days.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez tweeted photos of Brownsville Station agents utilizing a new mobile app to “efficiently collect biometrics & biographical information from migrants entering illegally.”

TECH BOOST! #USBP Agents at Brownsville Station are utilizing a new Mobile Intake Application to efficiently collect biometrics & biographical information from migrants entering illegally into the #USA. Great work by our Agents as they manage through this migrant influx in #RGV! pic.twitter.com/FUqzZEHYs0

— Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez (@USBPChiefRGV) April 25, 2023

The number of migrants crossing from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, into the Brownsville, Texas, region increased in the past couple of weeks ahead of the expected end of the Title 42 coronavirus health protocol. Chief Chavez tweeted that agents from the Laredo Sector volunteered to come to the RGV Sector to assist with the migrant influx.

Today, I welcomed the support of Laredo Sector #USBP Agents who volunteered to assist #RGV #BorderPatrol Agents manage this migrant influx in #BrownsvilleTX . Truly grateful for the support!
USBP Strong! @USBPChiefLRT pic.twitter.com/GWqokzDNJM

— Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez (@USBPChiefRGV) April 26, 2023

Breitbart Texas reported on Monday that Brownsville Station agents apprehended more than 1,600 migrants in a single day. Chief Chavez said, over the weekend, that Brownsville Station agents were reporting an average daily migrant apprehension rate of more than 1,000 per day.

Breitbart’s Ildefonso Ortiz and Brandon Darby reported on Thursday that Mexican immigration authorities were seen just sitting around migrant camps near Matamoros. The Mexican immigration agents did nothing to attempt to stop the migrants from crossing the Rio Grande to enter Texas.

Some Venezuelan migrants have created tension with the Gulf Cartel by setting up their own border-crossing service, Breitbart’s Cartel Chronicles Project reported on Wednesday.

In March, Rio Grande Valley Sector agents apprehended 17,958 migrants — a drop of nearly 60 percent from the more than 44,000 apprehended in March 2022. The sector long held the title of busiest border sector. However, in March, the sector fell to fifth place.

During the first six months of FY23, which began on October 1, 2022, RGV agents apprehended 132,168 migrants — down by more than 46 percent from the same period a year earlier. That put the sector in fourth place in year-to-date apprehensions.