The Department of Homeland Security released a six-point plan on Saturday to address the current humanitarian crisis at the border in Del Rio, Texas. The announcement comes as the migrant camp under the Del Rio International Bridge grew to more than 14,000 mostly Haitian migrants.
The Biden Administration stated on Saturday that “our borders are not open.” The statement comes as the number of mostly Haitian migrants being detained after freely crossing the border from Mexico rose to more than 14,000.
Big Bend Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended 49 migrants found locked inside a tractor-trailer at the Interstate 10 immigration checkpoint. The apprehension at the checkpoint comes on the same day Border Patrol officials closed similar checkpoints in the Del Rio Sector. Officials have subsequently closed the Laredo Sector checkpoints in an attempt to divert additional resources to the humanitarian crisis in Del Rio, Texas.
A major movement of migrants from the makeshift camp located under the Del Rio, Texas International Bridge is underway, according to a law enforcement source within U.S. Customs and Border Protection. A school bus marked “San Felipe-Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District” entered the camp to assist the Border Patrol in moving the migrants. It is unknown if the bus is part of the school district’s active fleet used to transport students.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials announced the closure of both international bridges in Del Rio, Texas, on Friday evening. The closures come as the migrant camp crisis under one of the bridges continues to worsen.
The mayor of the border city of Del Rio, Texas, declared a state of disaster on Friday as migrants continue to pour across from Mexico. Calling the situation “dire,” the mayor shut down the toll booths on the Del Rio International Bridge and closed it to traffic as a security measure.
Texas Department of Public Safety officials reported via Twitter early Thursday morning that someone from U.S. Customs and Border Protection contacted them to request assistance in shutting down “ports” of entry in the Del Rio area. DPS claims CBP later reversed or denied ever making the request.
Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez says the Biden administration is not testing any of the nearly 10,000 migrants being held in a makeshift border camp for COVID or anything else. He said they are alone at the border dealing with a national issue.
A video tweeted by Congressman Chip Roy (R-TX) shows a steady stream of migrants crossing the Rio Grande near Del Rio. The thousands of mostly Haitian migrants can be seen crossing freely in both directions across the river the separates Texas and Mexico.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials requested help from Texas officials to stem the growing humanitarian crisis in Del Rio where more than 9,000 migrants are detained under a bridge. Texas Governor Greg Abbott responded by sending additional DPS troopers and National Guard units to “shut down six ports of entry” and “stop the caravans from overrunning our state.”
The apprehension of migrants in the Del Rio Sector rose more than 190 percent since President Joe Biden took office in January. The sector is now the scene of explosive numbers of mostly Haitian migrants illegally crossing the border in the region with almost no physical barriers to entry.
Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 200,000 migrants who illegally crossed the border from Mexico during the month of August. This represents an increase of more 312 percent increase over the same month in 2020.
A source operating under the umbrella of U.S. Customs and Border Protection told Breitbart Texas the total number of mostly Haitian migrants being detained under the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas, rose to more than 2,000. News reports in Mexico reveal hundreds more are on the way from Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico.
Border Patrol agents arrested multiple criminal migrants, sex offenders, and members of criminal gangs over the past few days. Those arrested included a convicted rapist, a member of the violent MS-13 transnational gang with multiple deportations, and a fugitive accused of molesting a child in 2019.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents rescued a group of migrants locked inside a railcar in Eagle Pass, Texas. Border Patrol officials in the Del Rio and Laredo Sectors report increases in the use of trains to smuggle migrants.
More than 2,000 mostly Haitian and Venezuelan migrants crossed the Rio Grande at Del Rio, Texas, during the past week. Several hundred migrants remain at the river’s edge awaiting transport and processing due to logistical problems plaguing the Border Patrol.
A Border Patrol K-9 team carrying out train inspections in the Del Rio Sector found a toddler and his mother locked inside a grain-hopper rail car. The mother and son were without food or water in triple-digit temperatures.
Border Patrol agents in the five Texas-based sectors apprehended 146,212 migrants in July who illegally crossed the border from Texas. This represents more than 73 percent of all migrants apprehended last month in the nine southwest border sectors. It also represents an increase of percent over June’s 126,485 apprehensions.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol officials received a 911 call from migrant children who became lost after crossing from Mexico.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents arrested five migrants near Uvalde, Texas, who wore camouflage gear and attempted to avoid apprehension. Officials said they found property stolen during the burglary of a local ranch house.
A Texas non-profit migrant shelter in Del Rio ignored Governor Greg Abbott’s Executive Order prohibiting the ground transportation of migrants released by Customs and Border Protection officers. Shelter staff and volunteers from the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition, which operates out of the Chihuahua Center could be seen on Sunday hastily assisting a large group of mostly Haitian migrants into awaiting vans.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents disrupted a human smuggling attempt, leading to a vehicle pursuit and crash. Two migrants and the alleged smuggler were transported to a hospital near Eagle Pass, Texas, for treatment.
On Thursday, Acting Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Troy Miller announced the promotion of Raul L. Ortiz as the 25th Chief of the United States Border Patrol. Shortly after the formal announcement, Chief Ortiz participated in a town hall event in Del Rio, Texas.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents report a massive increase in the number of migrants being dangerously smuggled on trains by more than 900 percent over the same period last year.
Border Patrol agents in the Laredo and Del Rio Sectors found more than 40 migrants being smuggled inside grain hoppers and other rail cars near the Texas-Mexico border. The practice of smuggling migrants inside these sealed containers places the migrants in life-threatening conditions.
As with most metrics used to measure activity during the ongoing migration crisis, Border Patrol is experiencing a surge in rail car smuggling. In Uvalde, Texas, arrests of migrants on trains are surging at unprecedented levels. On some days, more migrants are apprehended on a single train than were seen in entire months in previous years.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents utilizing advanced technology, K-9 teams, and old-fashioned tracking techniques continue to apprehend large migrant groups attempting to avoid apprehension. In one incident this week, agents tracked a group on foot for more than four hours.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents stopped 10 convicted sex offenders from successfully making their way into the U.S. interior during a one-week period this month. Those arrested include previously deported individuals with convictions for lewd and lascivious acts with a child, forcible sexual abuse, sexual assault of a child under 14, sexual assault of a child, and more.
A Texas man from Eagle Pass pleaded guilty in federal court to a human smuggling attempt that led to the deaths of five migrants in June 2018. The smugglers packed 13 migrants into a Chevrolet Suburban and then fled from police. The pursuit ended in a fiery rollover crash as the pursuit entered the town of Big Wells.
Del Rio Sector agents set a new record for single-day migrant apprehensions on Thursday with the arrest of more than 1,000 migrants. The apprehensions came during the interdiction of 27 smuggling attempts in addition to arrests along the border.
A Texas rancher living north of Eagle Pass discovered five unaccompanied migrant children abandoned by smugglers on their farmland Saturday night. The five small girls, ranging in ages from one to six years old, were led across the Rio Grande River and abandoned the evening before. The human smugglers left them with no food, water, or any adults to care for them throughout the night.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 150 migrants and an armed human smuggler in multiple failed human smuggling attempts over the weekend. The arrests took place as smugglers packed migrants into a variety of vehicles, including a stolen vehicle.