Thousands of migrants have camped out under a bridge in Eagle Pass, Texas — though you wouldn’t know it by watching a live stream of the city where overflow facilities are blocked by giant black boxes.
The change was visible in live footage shared by the border town, which experienced an unprecedented surge of about 4,000 migrants on Wednesday – prompting officials to declare a state of emergency.
“I realize there are 2,000-4,000 [migrants] under the Bridge and more to come,” Mayor Rolando Salinas told The Post Wednesday.
“We have also been in contact with Union Pacific [railroad, which runs across the bridge] to ensure that they provide adequate security so that they do not cross the railway tracks.”
The bridge is home to an overflow facility as the only GST processing facility operating in the city has a capacity of only 1,000.
US Border Patrol agents process hundreds of migrants under International Bridge II at Eagle Pass.AP
Salinas said that he hopes to “clear the people under the bridge,” but fears that another daily surge of migrants in the seemingly endless flood will result in disaster.
“But if we get another wave tomorrow, it will be Del Rio again,” he said, referring to the 2021 incident where 15,000 Haitian migrants camped under a bridge in neighboring Del Rio, Texas.
The latest surge is the latest in a surprising weeks-long stream of migrants crossing into the border town illegally.
A total of 4,000 immigrants camped under the bridge. AP
A separate group of 2,500 people entered Monday, in addition to about 7,200 other illegal crossers detained in the previous week, according to Salinas.
He also said the massive influx over the past week – nearly 50% of the city’s 29,000 residents – has “taken a toll on our local resources, especially our local police force and our fire department.”
The mayor continues to fear that another 4,000 to 8,000 people in separate groups are also heading to the city.
A new emergency declaration issued by Salinas will allow Eagle Pass to apply for federal and state aid to help deal with the sudden influx.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
