Three more Border Patrol Agents working at the Eagle Pass, Texas, processing center tested positive for COVID-19 over the weekend, according to a source working under the umbrella of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The agents were assigned to process migrants apprehended in the Del Rio Sector in a soft-sided structure that is currently holding double its rated capacity.
Migrant detention facilities in West Texas, already exceeding capacity, were forced to close their doors to migrants on Saturday as they have exceeded the physical space to take in more. The increasing surge of migrants in the Del Rio Sector forced Border Patrol officials to resort to outdoor detention under the Del Rio International Bridge along the banks of the Rio Grande River.
A Texas Democrat border county judge is inviting President Joe Biden to visit the border and “witness first-hand the challenges being created by current policy.” On Friday afternoon, Hidalgo County Judge Richard Cortez sent a letter to President Biden inviting him to the region and expressing a need for “immediate and decisive action” in dealing with the ongoing surge in immigration.
Big Bend Sector Border Patrol agents continue to find human smugglers packing migrants into dangerously overloaded vehicles that are ripe for the spread of COVID-19. The Big Bend Sector covers some of the most remote areas of the southwestern border including 517 border miles, 77 Texas counties, and the entire state of Oklahoma.
At least three U.S. Border Patrol agents detailed to Texas from the Canadian boundary tested positive for COVID-19 within a week of their arrival, according to a source operating under the umbrella of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The source said other agents and National Guardsmen may also be exposed to the virus.
Governor Greg Abbott (R) ordered Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers to stop any ground transportation of migrants following an uptick in cases of COVID-19. The governor issued an executive order to stop the ground transportation of migrants who have been detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents encountered the largest single migrant group of the year on Tuesday. The agents found 336 who crossed the border illegally from Mexico into Texas.
Border Patrol officials in the El Paso Sector report the apprehension of migrants is on pace to meet or exceed the number of apprehensions during the “Migrant Crisis” of FY2019. The announcement comes amid a surge of migrant apprehensions currently up 288 percent over the same period last year.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 20,000 migrants in one week, officials say. The number of migrants illegally crossing the border continues to escalate even as the hottest part of the Texas summer approaches.
Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents rescued a lost migrant who illegally crossed the border from Mexico on July 21. The migrant called 911 for assistance after running out of water.
A law enforcement source within U.S. Customs and Border Protection reports more than 600 migrants were apprehended in the Del Rio Sector on Friday. The flurry of activity began in the morning hours when nearly 400 migrants, mostly Haitian nationals were apprehended in Del Rio, Texas.
Jim Hogg County Sheriff’s Office deputies found more than 20 migrants in a failed human smuggling incident involving a horse trailer. Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents reported 17 of the migrants were locked inside the trailer.
Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco reported the death of a suspected migrant near Uvalde, Texas. A farmer ran over one of the hiding migrants, killing him.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended eight large groups of migrants in the past five days, sector officials tweeted. They also continue to encounter human smugglers who fail to stop and lead agents and police on dangerous pursuits.
Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents disrupted a human smuggling attempt involving a rental box truck. The agents at an interior immigration checkpoint north of Laredo, Texas, found migrants hiding in boxes inside the locked cargo area.
Migrant rescues along the U.S.-Mexico Border by patrol agents reached a staggering 9,500 through the end of June. Officials report this nine-month total is 81 percent more than seen during Fiscal Year 2020.
Texas farmers and ranchers are asking the Biden Administration to pay for the damages caused to their properties as a side effect of human smuggling and the border crisis. Smugglers and migrants frequently damage fences, irrigation systems, and even steal equipment as they move through South Texas.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 15,000 migrants in a single week, officials reported Tuesday. The Rio Grande Valley is consistently the busiest of the nine southwestern border sectors.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended a group of nearly 300 migrants who illegally crossed the border from Mexico into Texas over the weekend. Officials say this represents the largest single-group apprehension so far this fiscal year. During a medical screening in the field, one of the migrants exhibited symptoms of COVID-19. The agents arranged transportation to an area hospital where the migrant tested positive for the virus.
Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers found a large group of migrants locked inside a tractor-trailer near the U.S.-Mexico Border. Smugglers packed the 105 migrants shoulder-to-shoulder.
State troopers from Nebraska and Florida joined Texas Department of Public Safety personnel and U.S. Border Patrol agents to hold a large group surge of Haitian and Venezuelan migrants at a barrier in Del Rio.
Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 790,000 migrants in the five months that followed President Joe Biden’s changes in border policy. This represents an increase of more than 500 percent over the same period the previous year.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis expressed surprise at reports from the border in Del Rio, Texas, saying that 70 percent of apprehended migrants are headed to his state. The Florida governor’s comments came following a border briefing with Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Saturday.
One person is dead and another seriously injured following a rollover crash in Wharton County, Texas, that may have involved a human smuggling operation. The crash took place nearly 300 miles north of the Texas-Mexico border.
Agents in the five Texas-based Border Patrol sectors apprehended more than 730,000 so far this fiscal year. The apprehensions account for more than two-thirds of the more than one million migrants apprehended along the U.S. southwestern border with Mexico.
Human smuggling stash house raids in the Rio Grande Valley Sector led to the arrests of 53 migrants being warehoused for transportation into the U.S. interior. The raids took place in three stash houses operated in two different counties near the Texas border with Mexico.
Big Bend Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended 74 migrants and their human smugglers following an incident involving two RV travel trailers. The agents teamed up with Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to apprehend an additional vehicle involved in the attempt.
Large migrant group crossings continue to mount in the Yuma Border Patrol Sector. As of Monday, sector officials held nearly 1,800 migrants in custody awaiting processing.
Rio Grande Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended two large migrant groups after they illegally crossed the Mexican border into Texas within a few days of each other.
A Honduran man faces federal charges in South Texas for allegedly making a false familial claim to get into the United States.
El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents rescued multiple migrants suffering from the effects of heat and lack of water in the wilderness near the California-Mexico border. So far this fiscal year, El Centro agents rescued more than 230 migrants in distress.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott met on Saturday with a contingent of Texas sheriffs to discuss their concerns about the current border crisis’s impact on counties within the state. According to Abbott, the necessity of such workshops is caused by the current administration’s abandonment of efforts to enforce immigration laws that were passed by the United States Congress.
Texas ranchers say changes in immigration and border security policies by the Biden administration created chaos, danger, and personal costs to those living along the Texas border with Mexico. Record migrant crossings leave residents as far as a hundred miles from the border scrambling to keep up with the damages caused to their property.
Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 100 migrants in the desert near Sasabe, Arizona. Human smugglers abandoned the group that contained more than 90 unaccompanied minors.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents encountered two large groups of migrants who illegally crossed the Mexican border into Texas. The agents apprehended a total of 233 migrants from five countries. The groups included at least 55 unaccompanied minors.
Border Patrol agents and Coast Guard crews rescued migrants across the Rio Grande Valley Sector after human smugglers put them in jeopardy. In multiple incidents, smugglers moved women, children, and even infants into the river that separates Texas and Mexico. One woman was saved after an alleged sexual assault attempt.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents arrested more than 1,400 criminal aliens during Fiscal Year 2021 as they attempted to re-enter South Texas from Mexico. Many of these had histories of violent and sexual crimes including acts against children.
El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents teamed up with other federal agents to interdict two human smuggling stash houses in Texas and New Mexico. The interdictions led to the arrest of 65 migrants.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted a video showing the beginning of the State’s new border barriers. The building of fences along unsecured sections of the Texas-Mexico border is part of the plan recently announced by the governor to begin arresting
Border Patrol agents in California rescued four migrants in two incidents in the mountainous regions along the Mexican border.
