Border Patrol forces in California, Texas and Arizona were so overwhelmed by the thousands of migrants entering the US, they had to take drastic measures to deal with them.
The crisis has emerged in four areas, according to local sources and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), closed one of the two international bridges at the Eagle Pass, Texas, border station to all traffic since Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the international crossing at Lukeville, Arizona, was also closed.
The closure was done “to redirect personnel to assist the US Border Patrol by taking immigrants into custody,” CBP said.
Border patrol agents are seen handing out water to migrants on the Tijuana side of the border wall on the San Ysidro side of the US-Mexico border wall in San Diego. Mark Peterson/Redux for the NY Post Migrants cross the US-Mexico Border on the Rio Grande river on Oct. 3. 2023 in El Paso, Texas. NYPJ
Elsewhere along the southern border, similarly drastic measures have been taken to deal with surges in other hotspots.
The Tuscon sector, which covers most of the Arizona-Mexico border, suspended its social media accounts Sunday to use all its staff in dealing with the “unprecedented influx of migrants,” sector chief John R. Modlin announced.
“All available personnel are needed,” Modlin said, then added “To be clear, it is my desire to remain transparent.”
Four hotspots across California, Arizona and Texas, have forced CBP to pool resources to deal with the crisis.
Modlin previously revealed that his agents had made 15,300 arrests across their border sector in just one week, as well as making three drug busts, seizing 117 pounds. fentanyl headed to the US.
CBP figures show 52,000 people showed up at border crossings along the Southwest border to enter the US in October, a figure far outnumbered by the 189,000 found trying to cross illegally into the country between ports of entry in the same month.
Erika Pinheiro, executive director of immigrant services at legal aid firm Al Otro, told The Post that cartels and people smugglers deliberately change tactics and send migrants to different areas to test weaknesses in US border patrol coverage.
Migrants race across the Tijuana River canal into the United States in the San Diego border sector November 25 REUTERS Migrants camped in Jacumba Hot Springs in California receive blankets handed out by local volunteers in November. Reuters
“[It’s] like a hit-and-run game. People first went to Rio Grande, then they were in Yuma and then El Paso,” Pinheiro said.
“It really depends on which country the migrant is coming from and how the smuggling network works at the border.”
In California, new barriers are being built along the banks of a canal north of the border in San Diego’s San Ysidiro district, where migrants are increasingly making their way into the country.
An immigrant is checked by Border Protection agents at a camp in Jacumba Hot Springs, California. Reuters
The barrier stretches along the banks of the Tijuana River where it crosses into the US through a shallow concrete canal, which many migrants use to crowd across the border in large groups.
A half-mile fence is also being erected along the riverbank on the Mexican side, according to the Border Report.
About 60 miles to the east in the barren desert area around Jacumba Hot Springs, an “unofficial” border station has sprung up, according to the LA Times, where agents have begun guarding an encampment that has become a temporary home for hundreds of migrants from around the world.
Bridge 1, in Eagle Pass, Texas, is closed again as CBP tries to divert resources to manage the surge of immigrants. eaglepasstx.gov
In Jacumba, the border fence is interrupted by rocky terrain that leaves an open space for migrants to cross.
So many people have come through the opening that CBP has begun sending agents in the area who distribute supplies and arrange transfers to official processing centers.
California has been at the center of the latest surge of migrants arriving at the border in recent weeks.
About half a mile of fence was built on the Mexican side of the Tijuana River to work with the new fence in California. National Migration Institute of Mexico
Since mid-September alone, more than 40,000 immigrants have been processed through the San Diego sector, coming from countries as far away as China, India, Turkey and Romania.
The towering figure capped a streak of record-setting months in San Diego.
In the 2023 fiscal year ending Sept. 30, more than 230,000 migrants crossed along the sector — a 20-year high in the area.
Asylum seekers from Afghanistan are transported by Border Patrol agents after crossing the border into the US from Mexico in San Diego, California on November 5, 2023. New York Post Mexican municipal police officers holding riot shields watch over migrants as they try to cross the US-Mexico Border on the Rio Grande river on Oct. 3. 2023 in El Paso, Texas. NYPJ
Just two months ago, the crisis was so severe in Eagle Pass, Texas, where two bridges cross the Rio Grande into Mexico, that Bridge 1 was closed again to divert CBP resources to deal with the more than 10,000 immigrants arriving in the city each day, according to the Report Border.
The shutdown continued for almost a month and wreaked havoc on the flow of trade in the city.
At least $500,000 in trade revenue during the shutdown in September, Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas Jr. said.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
